The word 'steal' descends directly from the Old English stelan, a verb of robust Germanic lineage, traceable back to the Proto-Germanic stelanan. This ancient root carried the core meaning of "to take by theft," a concept fundamental to human societies. While its form has simplified from Old to Modern English, its semantic core has remained remarkably stable, consistently denoting the unlawful appropriation of property. The development of its secondary meaning, "to move stealthily," is a logical figurative extension, linking the secrecy of the action to the act of theft itself.

The word is a simplex form. It originates from the Old English verb stelan, which is of Germanic origin. It is related to Dutch stelen and German stehlen.