English

Noun

stepmother ‎(plural stepmothers)

1. The wife of one's biological father, other than one's biological mother.
2. (rare) A viola, especially Viola tricolor, heartsease.
   • 1974, Thomas Teal, translating Tove Jansson, The Summer Book, Sort Of Books 2003, p. 115:

     The second came up about ten days later in the lee of the channel marker, and it was called stepmother, or love-in-idelness.

Usage notes

In Western heterosexual couples, this is typically after the divorce or death of the birth mother; in polygamous marriages and lesbian couples, the term may be used for co-mother or nonbirth mother

Synonyms

• bonus mother (euphemistic)
• co-mother (same-sex and polygamous families)

Dialectal forms:

• stepma (chiefly Ireland, US regional)
• stepmam (chiefly Ireland, Northern England)
• stepmama (chiefly US regional)
• stepmamma (chiefly US regional)
• stepmom (chiefly US)
• stepmum (chiefly UK, Commonwealth)

Hypernyms

• stepparent

Translations

See also

• Category:English words prefixed with step-
• ex-stepfather
• ex-stepmother
• ex-stepparent
• stepbrother
• stepchild
• stepdaughter
• stepfamily
• stepfather
• stepparent
• stepsibling
• stepsister
• stepson