stepfather

See also: step-father

English

Alternative forms

step-father

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”).

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: step‧fa‧ther

Noun

stepfather (plural stepfathers)

(in the narrow sense) A husband of one's biological mother after her initial marriage to or relationship with one's biological father.
- 1980, Ford, Gerald, “Boyhood—and Beyond”, in A Time to Heal‎, New York: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 47:
  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 the broad sense) A husband of one's parent distinct from one's biological father
(Can we add an example for this sense?)
- 2015, Werner A. Mueller, Monika Hassel, Maura Grealy, Development and Reproduction in Humans and Animal Model Species, Springer, →ISBN, page 188, column 2:
  In suboptimal cases the gynaecologist takes sperm from anonymous donors. In this case the husband can only be stepfather of the child.
- 1953, Cyril Dean Darlington, The Facts of Life, page 433:
  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 […]

Synonyms

stepdad (informal)
co-father
father-in-law (dated)

Hypernyms

stepparent

Related terms

stepaunt
stepbrother
stepchild
stepdaughter
stepfamily
stepfather-in-law
stepmother
stepnephew
stepniece
stepsister
stepson
stepuncle

Translations

husband of one's biological mother, other than one's biological father

Albanian: vitërk (sq) m, njerk (sq) m
Arabic: زَوْج الْأُمّ‎ m (zawj al-ʾumm), رابّ‎ m (rābb)
Armenian: խորթ հայր (xortʿ hayr), հորու (hy) (horu) (archaic), հորա (hy) (hora) (archaic)
Aromanian: nuercu m, nercu m
Asturian: padrastru (ast) m
Azerbaijani: ögey ata
Basque: aitaorde (eu)
Belarusian: айчы́м m (ajčým)
Bulgarian: вто́ри баща́ m (vtóri baštá), дове́ден баща́ m (dovéden baštá), пастро́к m (pastrók)
Burmese: ပထွေး (my) (pa.htwe:)
Catalan: padrastre (ca) m
Central Sierra Miwok: hajˀi-
Chinese:
Mandarin: 繼父／继父 (zh) (jìfù)
Czech: nevlastní otec m, otčím (cs) m
Danish: stedfar (da) c, bonusfar c
Dutch: stiefvader (nl) m
Esperanto: vicpatro, (sometimes) duonpatro
Estonian: kasuisa
Faroese: stjúkfaðir m
Finnish: isäpuoli (fi)
French: beau-père (fr) m, parâtre (fr) m
Friulian: padreu m
Galician: padrasto (gl) m
Georgian: მამინაცვალი (maminacvali)
German: Stiefvater (de) m, (gender-neutral) Stiefelternteil (de) m or n
Greek: πατριός (el) m (patriós), θετός πατήρ m (thetós patír), θετός πατέρας m (thetós patéras)
Ancient: πατρυιός m (patruiós)
Hebrew: אׇב חׂרֵג \\ אב חורג‎ (he) m (av khorég)
Hindi: सौतेला बाप m (sautelā bāp)
Hungarian: mostohaapa (hu)
Icelandic: stjúpfaðir m, stjúpi m
Ido: stifa patro, stif-patro (io)
Indonesian: ayah tiri (id), bapak tiri (id)
Irish: leasathair m
Italian: patrigno (it) m
Japanese: 継父 (ja) (けいふ, keifu, ままちち, mamachichi)
Javanese: bapak kuwalon
Kashmiri: وورٕ مول‎ (vōrụ mōl)
Kazakh: өгей әке (ögei äke)
Korean: 계부(繼父) (gyebu), 새아버지 (saeabeoji), 의붓아버지 (uibusabeoji)
Kumyk: оьгей ата (ögey ata)
Kyrgyz: өгөй ата (ögöy ata)
Latin: vītricus m
Latvian: patēvs m
Lithuanian: patėvis m
Luxembourgish: Stéifpapp
Macedonian: очув m (očuv), потатко m (potatko)
Malagasy: raikèly (mg)
Maori: pāpā whakaangi, matua whakaangi, mātua kē
Middle English: stepfader
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: хойд эцэг (xojd eceg)
Navajo: hazhéʼé ájíłʼíní, hazhéʼé jíłʼíní
Norwegian:
Bokmål: stefar m
Nynorsk: stefar m
Old English: stēopfæder m
Persian: ناپدری‎ (fa) (nâpedari), پدندر‎ (pedandar)
Plautdietsch: Steefvoda m
Polish: ojczym (pl) m
Portuguese: padrasto (pt) m
Romanian: tată vitreg (ro) m
Russian: о́тчим (ru) m (ótčim), приёмный оте́ц m (prijómnyj otéc)
Sardinian: bídrigu m, bítricu m, bídricu m, bídriu m, brídicu m, vídrigu m
Scots: stap-faither
Scottish Gaelic: oide m, leas-athair m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: о̏чӯх m, по̀очим m
Roman: ȍčūh (sh) m, pòočim (sh) m
Slovak: nevlastný otec m, otčim m
Slovene: očim (sl) m
Southern Altai: ӧӧй ада (ööy ada)
Spanish: padrastro (es) m
Swedish: styvfar (sv) c, styvfader (sv) c, (modern slang) plastpappa (sv) c
Tagalog: amang-panguman
Tajik: падарандар (padarandar), падари ӯгай (padari ügay)
Telugu: సవతితండ్రి (savatitaṇḍri)
Turkish: üvey baba (tr)
Tuvan: соңгу ада (soñgu ada)
Ukrainian: вітчи́м m (vitčým)
Uzbek: oʻgay ota
Vietnamese: bố dượng, cha kế
Volapük: (♂♀) lupal, (♂) hilupal
Welsh: llystad m
Yiddish: שטיפֿטאַטע‎ m (shtiftate)