Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

'Etape \['E]`tape"\, n. [F. Cf. {Staple} a mart.]
   1. A public storehouse.

   2. Supplies issued to troops on the march; hence (Mil.), the
      place where troops on the march halt over night; also, by
      extension, the distance marched during a day.

   3. In Russia, a prison or stockade for the confinement of
      prisoners in transit.