Part 770

Ste"a*rate (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of stearic acid; as, ordinary soap consists largely of sodium or potassium stearates.

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Ste*ar"ic (?), a. [Cf. F. stéarique.] (Physiol. Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, stearin or tallow; resembling tallow.

Stearic acid (Chem.), a monobasic fatty acid, obtained in the form of white crystalline scales, soluble in alcohol and ether. It melts to an oily liquid at 69°C.

Ste"a*rin (?), n. [Gr. &?; tallow, suet: cf. F. stéarine.] (Physiol. Chem.) One of the constituents of animal fats and also of some vegetable fats, as the butter of cacao. It is especially characterized by its solidity, so that when present in considerable quantity it materially increases the hardness, or raises the melting point, of the fat, as in mutton tallow. Chemically, it is a compound of glyceryl with three molecules of stearic acid, and hence is technically called tristearin, or glyceryl tristearate.

Ste`a*rol"ic (?), a. [Stearic + oleic + -ic.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or designating, an acid of the acetylene series, isologous with stearis acid, and obtained, as a white crystalline substance, from oleïc acid.

Ste"a*rone (?), n. (Chem.) The ketone of stearic acid, obtained as a white crystalline substance, (C17H35)2.CO, by the distillation of calcium stearate.

Ste`a*rop"tene (?), n. [Stearic + -optene as in elæoptene.] (Chem.) The more solid ingredient of certain volatile oils; -- contrasted with elæoptene.

||Ste`ar*rhe"a (?), n. [NL., from Gr. &?; tallow + &?; to flow.] (Med.) ||seborrhea.

Ste"a*ryl (?), n. [Stearic + - yl.] (Chem.) The hypothetical radical characteristic of stearic acid.

Ste"a*tite (?), n. [Gr. &?;, &?;, fat, tallow: cf. F. stéatite.] (Min.) A massive variety of talc, of a grayish green or brown color. It forms extensive beds, and is quarried for fireplaces and for coarse utensils. Called also potstone, lard stone, and soapstone.

Ste`a*tit"ic (?), n. (Min.) Pertaining to, or of the nature of, steatite; containing or resembling steatite.

||Ste`a*to"ma (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to turn into tallow or ||suet, fr. &?;, &?;, fat, suet.] (Med.) A cyst containing matter like ||suet.

Ste`a*tom"a*tous (?), a. (Med.) Of the nature of steatoma.

||Ste`a*top"y*ga (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, &?;, fat + &?; the ||buttocks.] A remarkable accretion of fat upon the buttocks of ||Africans of certain tribes, especially of Hottentot women.

Ste`a*top"y*gous (?), a. Having fat buttocks.

Specimens of the steatopygous Abyssinian breed.

Burton.

Sted (?), n., Sted"fast (&?;), a., Sted"fast*ly, adv., etc. See Stead, Steadfast, etc.

Stee (?), n. [Cf. G. stiege. &radic;164. See Stair.] A ladder. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] [Written also stey.]

Steed (?), n. [OE. stede, AS. stda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. std a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, st&?;, a stud. &radic;163. See Stud of horses.] A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. "A knight upon a steed." Chaucer.

Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed.

Shak.

Steed"less, a. Having no steed; without a horse.

{ Steek, Steik } (?), v. t. [Cf. Stick, v. t.] To pierce with a sharp instrument; hence, to stitch; to sew; also, to fix; to fasten. [Scot.]

Steel (?), n. [AS. stl, stl, stle; akin to D. staal, G. stahl, OHG. stahal, Icel. stl, Dan. staal, Sw. stål, Old Prussian stakla.] 1. (Metal) A variety of iron intermediate in composition and properties between wrought iron and cast iron (containing between one half of one per cent and one and a half per cent of carbon), and consisting of an alloy of iron with an iron carbide. Steel, unlike wrought iron, can be tempered, and retains magnetism. Its malleability decreases, and fusibility increases, with an increase in carbon.

2. An instrument or implement made of steel; as: --

(a) A weapon, as a sword, dagger, etc. "Brave Macbeth . . . with his brandished steel." Shak.