What does the word "steem" mean? Here's my research.

Is it a play on "steam", or a clipped form of "esteem"?

Apparently "steem" is not in major dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster, American Heritage, Dictionary.com (Random House Dictionary) and OxfordDictionaries.com, but Wiktionary does link it to "esteem": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steem#Etymology_2

"Aphetic form of esteem.
Noun: (obsolete) Value. [14th-16th c.]
Verb: (obsolete) To value, esteem. [16th-17th c.]"

So, "steem" means "esteem" which in turn means "value, worth, respect, affection".