stepmother

B2 Topic:People & Society

Also spelled step-mother

US /ˈstɛpˌməðɝ/ UK /ˈstɛpmʌðə/ See IPA manual

Freq #11323

Meanings

1

noun
The woman who is married to your father but is not your biological mother.

In the story, the wicked stepmother sends the girl into the forest.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

mother-in-lawstepdamestepmastepmamstepmamastepmammastepmomstepmommastepmommystepmumstepmummy

Word family

Forms stepmothers

Derived forms ex-stepmotherstepmotherhoodstepmotherlessstepmotherly

Related forms ex-stepfatherex-stepparentstepbrother stepchild stepdaughterstepfamilystepfatherstepmother-in-lawstepparentstepsiblingstepsister stepson

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”).

stepmoder Middle English stēopmōdor Old English *steupamōdēr Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# stepmother

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈstɛpˌməðɝ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈstɛpmʌðə/
**Frequency rank:** 11323

## Meanings
1. The woman who is married to your father but is not your biological mother.

## Examples
- In the story, the wicked stepmother sends the girl into the forest.

## Synonyms
- mother-in-law
- stepdame
- stepma
- stepmam
- stepmama
- stepmamma
- stepmom
- stepmomma
- stepmommy
- stepmum
- stepmummy

## Derived Forms
- ex-stepmother
- stepmotherhood
- stepmotherless
- stepmotherly

## Related Forms
- ex-stepfather
- ex-stepparent
- stepbrother
- stepchild
- stepdaughter
- stepfamily
- stepfather
- stepmother-in-law
- stepparent
- stepsibling
- stepsister
- stepson

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: stepmoder
- Root: stēopmōdor
- Root: *steupamōdēr

## 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”).

## AI Etymology
Stepmother is 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”).

## Topics
- People & Society

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