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Webster 1913 Edition

Step-

Step-

.
[AS.
steóp-
; akin to OFries.
stiap-
,
stiep-
, D. & G.
stief-
, OHG.
stiuf-
, Icel.
stj[GREEK]p-
, Sw.
styf-
, and to AS.
āstēpan
,
āsteópan
, to deprive, bereave, as children of their parents, OHG.
stiufen
.]
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;
as, a
step
mother to X is the wife of the father of X, married by him after the death of the mother of X
. See
Stepchild
,
Stepdaughter
,
Stepson
, etc.

Definition 2024

step-

step-

See also: step, štep, and stęp

English

Prefix

step-

  1. 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.

Derived terms

<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:English_words_prefixed_with_step-'>English words prefixed with step-</a>

Translations

References

  • step- in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Etymology

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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