Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

stepbairn

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
step-bairn
IPA
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A stepchild.

British usage

Etymology

From Middle English stepbarn (“orphan”), from Old English stēopbearn (“orphan”), from Proto-West Germanic *steupabarn, from Proto-Germanic *steupabarną (“stepchild”), equivalent to step- + bairn. Cognate with Old High German stiofbarn (“stepchild”), Norwegian stebarn (“stepchild”) Danish stedbarn (“stepchild”), Swedish styvbarn (“stepchild”), Icelandic stjúpbarn (“stepchild”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Usage

Inflected Forms

stepbairns (plural) stepbarn (alternative, Northern England)

Questions

What does stepbairn mean?
A stepchild.
Where does stepbairn come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce stepbairn

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “stepbairn”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “stepbairn”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “stepbairn” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.