Etymologically
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stepfather

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 02:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈstepˌfɑːðə(r)/[1]
  • US: /ˈstepˌfɑːðɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stepfader,[2][3][4][5] inherited from Old English stēopfæder,[2][3][4][6] inherited from Proto-Germanic *steupafadēr,[7][8] a compound of *steupaz and *fadēr (“father”).[7] It is cognate with Old Frisian stiāpfeder, Dutch stiefvader, Old Saxon stīffader, Old High German stioffater, German Stiefvater, Old Norse stjúpfaðir and Swedish styvfader.[8][4][7] The early Old English form steuffeder, in a manuscript copied about 800 at St Gall, probably shows Old High German influence.[8] For the first element, see step- and father.[2][8] Etymonline presumes its original sense was "loss", as in stēopcild (“orphan”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The husband of one's mother after the father: recorded in Old English, first in the Épinal Glossary, glossing Latin vitricus.[8][6] Dictionary.com dates it to before 900,[5] Merriam-Webster to before the 12th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to the Old English one.[6][8] Orosius, in the Old English translation, tells of a man who killed both his own father and his stepfather.[6] The revised OED now defines it as a later husband or partner of a parent, usually after the death of the other parent or a divorce or separation.[8] A figurative use, for a person or thing compared to a stepfather, is recorded from before 1400, and is now rather rare.[8][3] Fletcher and Massinger used it once for a father-in-law (before 1640).[8] The synonym step-sire, now obsolete, is recorded from about 1300.[2]

Timeline

  • Old English – stēopfæder, in the Épinal Glossary.[8][6]
  • c. 1225 – Middle English stepfeder, in the Worcester copy of Ælfric's Glossary.[3]
  • c. 1300 – step-sire, a synonym, now obsolete.[2]
  • before 1400 – figurative, a person or thing likened to a stepfather.[8]
  • before 1640 – a father-in-law (obsolete, rare).[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The husband of one's mother who is not one's own father: Her stepfather taught her to fish.[9][4][8]
  2. (rare) A person or thing likened to a stepfather.[8][3]

Word family

  • stepfatherly
  • stepbrother
  • stepchild
  • stepdaughter
  • stepfamily
  • stepmother
  • stepsister
  • stepson
  • father

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  7. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins