Where did this term come from? I looked it up, and it seems to derive from a Sci-Fi writer's anachronistic writing, so I understand the "steam (engine)" part, but whence "punk?" I thought possibly from the tender used to light fires to operate the boilers for steam engines, but find no proof.

Steampunk is a derivative of cyberpunk. This was a science fiction sub-genre that generally focussed on high tech worlds with social decay. It was a combination of cybernetics and punk - punk as in punk rock.

Steampunk did the same kind of thing but set in historical (historically implausible in fact) settings using old types of technology - steam or clockwork for example - to mimic high tech situations.

Sci-fi? Well, you're on here now, and it's tomorrow there. Or is it yesterday here? Still puzzled as to the meaning of "punk."