apparently by medieval times, a geographically wide group of folks had agreed upon the definition of what "Steel" was. (trading probably had a lot to do with it). This is what I got from the dictionary. STEEL Webster's Collegiate 1957 p. 1427 "noun [ME, stel; AS, stiele, staeli, akin to G. stahl; IE base* sta-, to stand, be placed, stand fast (cf. stand)], 1. a hard, tough metal..... 3, a piece of steel; something made of steel; specifically, a) (Poetic) a sword or dagger, b) a piece of steel used with flint for making sparks, ..... 4. great strength or hardness... as a transitive verb: 1. to cover, point, or edge with steel; 2. to make hard, tough, relentless, ... etc. Abbreviated s." translation Medieval English stel; Anglo-Saxon stiele, staeli; akin to German stahl; and some derivatives of Indo-European base word sta- all mean the same thing. Kathryn