Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • A prefix used before father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, child, etc., to indicate that the person thus spoken of is not a blood relative, but is a relative by the marriage of a parent. See stepchild, stepdaughter, stepson, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • prefix A prefix used before father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, child, and so forth, to indicate that the person being identified is not a blood relative but is related through the marriage of a parent.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English step-, from Old English stēop- ("deprived of a relative, step-", prefix), from Proto-Germanic *steupa- (“orphaned, step-”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teup- (“to push, strike”). Cognate with Scots step- ("step-"), West Frisian stiep- ("step-"), Dutch stief- ("step-"), Low German steef- ("step-"), German stief- ("step-"), Swedish styv- ("step-"), Icelandic stjúp- ("step-"). Related to Old English stīepan ("to deprive, bereave").

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Examples

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