My 4+1/2 year old daughter who has just started going to school asked me this the other day, and I answered her with the best of my ability, but it really got me wondering..... How would you answer that question to a 4 year old? (we have no history of divorces to explain what that means... and try and link it for her, (thankfully I suppose!).
Does anybody know how it became "Step" mother/father/sister/brother?
2006-11-27 03:38:00 · 17 answers · asked by My_Name 2 in Family & Relationships ➔ Marriage & Divorce
Step mum or dad is someone who acts on behalf of a mum or dad.
2006-11-27 03:42:43 · answer #1 · answered by dagstakila 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The "step" in step parent is for someone who is willing to step up to the plate and do the job. In my experience, the step parent is much better than the "real" thing. I have a step father and I also have a second husband who is a step father. Both of them are doing a better job than the "real" father could have ever dreamed of doing. Just let your daughter know that her friend is very lucky to have someone to step up and be someone very special in that child's life. Thank you and GOD bless you.
2006-11-27 11:45:47 · answer #2 · answered by cookie 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The prefix step- used in this sense is Middle English, derived from Old English steop-. The Old English form is cognate with similar forms in many of the Germanic languages: Old Frisian stiap-, Middle Low German stef-, Middle and modern Dutch stief-, Old High German stiof-, Old Icelandic stjup-, Swedish styv-, Old Danish stiup-, and Norwegian ste-. The Old English form comes from steopcild ("stepchild"), which meant "orphan". The steop- prefix comes from Old English astiepan/bestiepan "bereave" (with cognates in Old High German arstiufen/bestiufen). The sense is that an orphan is bereaving his lost parent(s). Before 800, stepfather/stepmother meant "one who becomes a father/mother to an orphan", and stepson/stepdaughter meant "an orphan who becomes a son/daughter by the remarriage of a parent".
2006-11-27 11:42:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
In place of
2006-11-27 11:41:46 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
it simply means a step removed from yovr biological father or mother or stands in place of your real father mother or brother or not related to you by blood .
2006-11-27 12:23:31 · answer #5 · answered by Bear 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Main Entry: step-
Function: combining form
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English stop-; akin to Old Frisian stiap- step-, Old High German stiof-, Old Norse stjp- step-, Old English stpan, stypan to deprive, bereave, Old High German bistiufen to deprive of children or parents
: related by virtue of a remarriage (as of a parent) and not by blood
2006-11-27 11:43:14 · answer #6 · answered by braennvin2 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I would say that it means that that person just "Stepped" into the parent picture...u know...she stepped into the mothers role so shes a "Stepmother"
i think thats what it is for
2006-11-27 11:39:32 · answer #7 · answered by ♥4'10♥so_what 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It is a term used to describe someone that is not blood related to you as in not you mom, not your dad, brother has different parents, and same with sister. I hope that clears it up.
2006-11-27 12:57:25 · answer #8 · answered by Livinrawguy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would assume it came from new spouses stepping in the role of the real parent.
2006-11-27 11:40:33 · answer #9 · answered by gnine 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, it's because in ancient English the word 'stoep' meant "unrelated by marriage (or blood)." Step is a word edit from Stoep, which was popular in the 2nd century.
2006-11-27 11:41:47 · answer #10 · answered by ***L.E.D.G.E*** 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋