Steady derives from Old English stede ('place, standing') plus -y, rooted in PIE *steh₂- ('to stand'). Something steady holds its position — the same root behind stand, stable, state, and station.
Firmly fixed, supported, or balanced; not faltering or wavering; regular, even, and continuous in development.
From Middle English stede meaning 'place, position, standing' (from Old English stede, from Proto-Germanic *stadiz, from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- meaning 'to stand'), plus the adjectival suffix -y. The underlying idea is 'having a firm place to stand' — something steady is something that holds its position. The Old English stede also gives us stead (as in 'in his stead'), instead (in the stead of), homestead, and farmstead. The PIE root *steh₂- is one of the most productive in English, yielding stand, state, station, static, stable, establish
Steady, stand, state, station, stable, status, statue, static, establish, and estate all come from the same PIE root *steh₂- meaning 'to stand'. It is one of the largest word families in English. A steady hand and a nation-state share the same five-thousand-year-old idea: something that holds