downstep

D2O1W4N1S1T1E1P3

noun

A downward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language.

OriginEnglish step ← Middle English steppen ← Old English stæppan →
Scrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noundownstep (plural downsteps)

plural downsteps

  1. A downward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language.
verbdownstep (third-person singular simple present downsteps, present participle downstepping, simple past and past participle downstepped)

present singular third person downsteps · participle present downstepping · participle past downstepped · past downstepped

  1. To apply a downward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language.

Origin

  1. Englishdown-
  2. Proto-Germanic*stapiz
  3. Proto-Germanic*stappōnąbf.
  4. Proto-Germanic*stapjaną
  5. Proto-West Germanic*stappjan
  6. Old Englishstæppan
  7. Middle Englishsteppen
  8. Englishstep
  9. Englishdownstep

From down- + step.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Danish trin ned
  • trin nedTranslations
Estonian allaastuv
  • allaastuvTranslations
Greek κατάβαση
  • κατάβαση (katávasi)Translations
Italian abbassato
  • abbassatoTranslations
Japanese ダウンステップ
  • ダウンステップ (daunsuteppu)Translations
Lithuanian šúolis žemỹn
  • šúolis žemỹnTranslations
Norwegian Bokmål nedsteg
  • nedstegTranslations
Polish uskok
  • uskokTranslations
Swedish nedsteg
  • nedstegTranslations

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

stepdownstewpond
Cite this entry
APA

downstep. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downstep

MLA

“downstep.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downstep. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “downstep,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downstep.

Source: downstep on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.