etape

Étape is a French noun meaning a step, stage, or leg in a sequence, a point along a route, or a phase in a process. In everyday French it is used to describe a part of a journey (for example, la prochaine étape meaning the next stop) or a stage in a plan or project. The term can also convey a temporary halt during travel, analogous to a stopover in English: un itinéraire avec plusieurs étapes.

In transportation and travel contexts, une étape can denote a scheduled stop on a journey by land or sea, such as a village chosen as a halte between two larger towns. In tourism and event contexts it is used to describe a route's intermediate points or overnight stops.

In sports, especially cycling, étape refers to a stage of a race. Stage races like the Tour de France are structured as successive étapes; each one has its own route, distance, and character (flat, hill, or time trial). The phrase Étape du Tour (the Tour's stage) is commonly used to describe the event's individual days of racing.

In other domains, étape appears in expressions such as "étapes d'un processus" or "en plusieurs étapes" to emphasize a multi-phase sequence in workflows, software development, manufacturing, or planning.

The term is borrowed into some English-speaking contexts as a technical or descriptive loanword, though it remains far more common in French.