Etymology

stepsister

step·sis·ter
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Today it means: The daughter of one's stepparent by a previous relationship. Full definition →

English sister ← Middle English suster ← Old English sweostor
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)tew-
  2. Proto-Germanic*steupa-
  3. Proto-West Germanic*steupa-
  4. Old Englishstēop-
  5. Middle Englishstep-
  6. Englishstep-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*swé
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ésh₂r̥
  9. Proto-Indo-European*su-h₁ésh₂-ōr?
  10. Proto-Indo-European*swé
  11. Proto-Indo-European*swésōr
  12. Proto-Germanic*swestēr
  13. Proto-West Germanic*swester
  14. Old Englishsweostor
  15. Middle Englishsuster
  16. Englishsister
  17. English todaystepsister

From step- + sister.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.