novercal

N1O1V4E1R1C3A1L1
/nəʊˈvɜː(ɹ)kəl/

adjective

Of or pertaining to a stepmother.

Similar
stepmotherly
OriginLatin novercalis →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

adjectivenovercal (not comparable)
  1. datednot comparableOf or pertaining to a stepmother.

    when almost the whole tribe of birds do thus, by incubation, produce their young , it is a wonderful deviation , that some few families only ſhould do it in a more novercal way

    1713, W[illiam] Derham, Physico-Theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation. […], London: […] W[illiam] Innys, […], →OCLC
    1 more example

    Guido's old lady-mother Beatrice, / Who since her husband, Count Tommaso's death, / Had held sole sway i' the house,—the doited crone / Slow to acknowledge, curtsey and abdicate,— / Was recognized of true novercal type, / Dragon and devil.

    1889, Robert Browning, The Ring and the Book, Volume I, page 77, lines 486—491

    Synonyms: stepmotherly

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveOf or pertaining to a stepmother.

Similar
stepmotherly

Origin

  1. Latinnovercalis
  2. Englishnovercal

From Latin novercalis, from noverca (“a stepmother”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with novercal

circleMerkelencirclefurcalcircumcirclecercalhurkleLupercaloperclesquircle
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

novercal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/novercal

MLA

“novercal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/novercal. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “novercal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/novercal.

Source: novercal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.