The story
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*steupafadēr“stepfather”
- Old English · inherited fromstēopfæder
- Middle English · inherited fromstepfader
- English todaystepfather
From Middle English stepfader, from Old English stēopfæder, from Proto-Germanic *steupafadēr (“stepfather”), equivalent to step- + father. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Stäiffoar (“stepfather”), Dutch stiefvader (“stepfather”), German Low German Steevvader (“stepfather”), German Stiefvater (“stepfather”), Swedish styvfar (“stepfather”), Icelandic stjúpfaðir (“stepfather”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.