stepfather

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the husband of your mother by a subsequent marriage

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”).

In classic literature

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
stepparent, father figure

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