stepfather
nounEtymology 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”).
1
In the narrow sense The husband of one's biological mother after her initial marriage to or relationship with one's biological father.
- 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.1980, Gerald Ford, “Boyhood—and Beyond”, in A Time to Heal, New York: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 47:
2
In the broad sense The husband of one's parent distinct from one's biological father or person with a similar relationship.
- In suboptimal cases the gynaecologist takes sperm from anonymous donors. In this case the husband can only be stepfather of the child.2015, Werner A. Mueller, Monika Hassel, Maura Grealy, Development and Reproduction in Humans and Animal Model Species, Springer, →ISBN, page 188, column 2:
- 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[…]1953, Cyril Dean Darlington, The Facts of Life, page 433:
- Synonyms
- stepdad, co-father, father-in-law
- Derived terms
- ex-stepfather, stepfatherhood, stepfatherly
- Related terms
- stepaunt, stepbrother, stepchild, stepdaughter, stepfamily, stepfather-in-law, stepmother, stepnephew, stepniece, stepsister, stepson, stepuncle
- Hypernyms
- stepparent