stepmother

CEFRA1

/ˈstɛpmʌðə/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A woman married to someone’s father.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A woman who is a subsequent wife or partner of a person's parent, usually following the divorce or separation of their parents, or the death of one's biological mother., An animal, typically a bird, who raises the offspring of another animal.

Examples

  • This part of the land belongs to my stepmother.

  • The stepmother sneered at Cinderella.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Synonym of co-mother (“the non-birth mother of a child in a lesbian couple”).

  2. The wife of one's biological father, other than one's biological mother.

  3. A woman who is a subsequent wife or partner of a person's parent, usually following the divorce or separation of their parents, or the death of one's biological mother.

More examples

In context

  • The second came up about ten days later in the lee of the channel marker, and it was called stepmother, or love-in-idelness.

Synonyms

Quick test

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After my father remarried last year, his new wife became my legal blank.

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Nearby

Origin

noun

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”).