stepfather
/stˈɛpfˌɑðɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The husband of one's biological mother after her initial marriage to or relationship with one's biological father.
noun
The husband of one's parent distinct from one's biological father or person with a similar relationship.
Example Sentences
- "My stepfather loved me as much as he loved his own three sons. I knew how much he wanted to help me and how lacking in financial resources he was. Nothing could erase the image I gained of my real father that day: a carefree, well-to-do man who didn't really give a damn about the hopes and dreams of his firstborn son."
- "In suboptimal cases the gynaecologist takes sperm from anonymous donors. In this case the husband can only be stepfather of the child."
- "Telegony or Inheritance from the Stepfather The earliest reference to telegony ( which has no connection with the son of Odysseus ) is supposed to be in 1665 but the classical case is that described in the Philosophical Transactions of[…]"
Etymology
From Middle English stepfader, from Old English stēopfæder, from Proto-Germanic *steupafadēr (“stepfather”), equivalent to step- + father. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Stäiffoar (“stepfather”), Dutch stiefvader (“stepfather”), German Low German Steevvader (“stepfather”), German Stiefvater (“stepfather”), Swedish styvfar (“stepfather”), Icelandic stjúpfaðir (“stepfather”).