stepmother

See also: step-mother

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English stepmoder, from Old English stēopmōdor, from Proto-Germanic *steupamōdēr (“stepmother”), corresponding to step- +‎ mother. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Stäifmuur (“stepmother”), Dutch stiefmoeder (“stepmother”), German Low German Steevmoder (“stepmother”), German Stiefmutter (“stepmother”), Danish stedmor (“stepmother”), Swedish styvmor (“stepmother”), Icelandic stjúpmóðir (“stepmother”). Compare also West Frisian styfmem (“stepmother”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈstɛpmʌðə/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Hyphenation: step‧moth‧er

Noun

stepmother (plural stepmothers)

  1. The wife of one's biological father, other than one's biological mother.
    Synonyms: (euphemistic) bonus mother, (same-sex and polygamous families) co-mother
    Hypernym: stepparent
    Coordinate term: stepfather
  2. (botany, rare) A viola, especially Viola tricolor, heartsease.
    • 1974, Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Teal, The Summer Book, Sort Of Books, published 2003, page 115:
      The second came up about ten days later in the lee of the channel marker, and it was called stepmother, or love-in-idelness.

Usage notes

  • In Western heterosexual couples, this is typically after the divorce or death of the birth mother; in polygamous marriages and lesbian couples, the term may be used for co-mother or nonbirth mother.

Synonyms

Dialectal forms:

Derived terms

Translations

See also

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