stepping stone

• stepping-stone
• steppingstone

First attested circa 1325; first used in the figurative sense circa 1653.

• enPR: stĕpʹĭng-stōn′
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈstɛp.ɪŋ stəʊn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstɛp.ɪŋ stoʊn/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈstɛp.ɪŋ stɐʉn/

• Audio (AU)

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stepping stone (plural stepping stones)

1. A stone that can be stepped on in crossing something, especially a marsh or creek.
   • 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:

     Falling—her veriest stepping-stone
     Shall form the pedestal of a throne— […]

2. (idiomatic) Something used as a way to progress to something or somewhere else.

   He was full of ambition, and force, and life, intending all sorts of great things, and meaning to make his position a stepping stone to all that was excellent in public life.

   Esperanto can make a good stepping stone language to Latin, which may be difficult for amateur linguists.

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto I:

     I held it truth, with him who sings
     ⁠To one clear harp in divers tones,
     ⁠That men may rise on stepping-stones
     Of their dead selves to higher things.

• means
• way

• milestone

• building block
• stumbling block