• step-father

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”).

• Hyphenation: step‧fa‧ther

stepfather (plural stepfathers)

1. (in the narrow sense) The husband of one's biological mother after her initial marriage to or relationship with one's biological father.
   • 1980, Gerald Ford, “Boyhood—and Beyond”, in A Time to Heal‎^[1], 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.

2. (in the broad sense) The husband of one's parent distinct from one's biological father or person with a similar relationship.
   • 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 […]

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

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

• stepparent

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

• “stepfather”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “stepfather, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “stepfather”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “stepfather”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “stepfather” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.