Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “stepfather” come from?

Stepfather comes from Middle English stepfader, from Old English stēopfæder, from Proto-Germanic steupafadēr, a compound of uncertain ultimate origin.

stepfather (English): The husband of one's biological mother, other...

Definitions

  1. The husband of one's biological mother, other...

Ancestry of “stepfather”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishstepfader—
2Old Englishstēopfæder—
3Proto-Germanicsteupafadērstepfather

Words derived from “stepfather”

  • stepfatherhood
  • stepfatherly
  • ex-stepfather
Every word from Proto-Germanic steupafadēr →