köken: Attested from mid-16th century. Via Middle Low German stevel or Danish støvle, from Italian stivale (“a boot”). Altered by association with stíga (“to step”). Cognate with German Stiefel. A cognate with (or possibly derived from) the obsolete Old Icelandic stýfill (“boot”), also from Middle Low German. Belief that it derives from the Icelandic verb stíga (“to step”) and vél (“a machine”) similar…