# stepfather

Pronunciation: US say "STEP-fah-thur" /ˈstɛpˌfɑðɚ/; UK say "STEP-fah-thuh" /ˈstɛpˌfɑːðə/

## Noun

1. The husband of one's biological mother, married to her following her earlier marriage or relationship with one's biological father.
   - Simple: The man your mother marries after she was first with your biological father.
   - _After the divorce, her mother remarried, and the children grew close to their new stepfather._
   - _He calls his stepfather by his first name, but they share a warm bond._
2. The husband of one's parent other than one's biological father, or a partner who fills a comparable parental role.
   - Simple: A man who marries one of your parents but is not your biological father.
   - _His stepfather coached the soccer team every weekend throughout high school._
   - _Though they never legally married, she always introduced him as her stepfather._

## Origin

From Middle English stepfader, from Old English stēopfæder, from Proto-Germanic *steupafadēr, and equivalent to step- plus father. It is related to Dutch stiefvader, German Stiefvater, Swedish styvfar, and Icelandic stjúpfaðir.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stepfather (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).