Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “stepfamily” come from?

Stepfamily derives from English family, from Latin familia, from Latin famulus meaning "servant," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- meaning "to place or put."

stepfamily (English): Any family having one or more stepchildren or...

Definitions

  1. Any family having one or more stepchildren or...

Ancestry of “stepfamily”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfamilyA group of people who are closely related to one...
2Middle Englishfamylye—
3Latinfamiliafamily; household; A quantity of land adequate...
4Latinfamulusserving, servile; a servant, slave
5Proto-Italicfamelosservile, domestic
6Proto-Indo-Europeandʰh₁-m-eló-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeandʰeh₁-to do, put, place
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- →