O.E.
steop-, with connotations of "loss," in combinations like
steopcild "orphan," related to
astiepan, bestiepan "to bereave, to deprive of parents or children," from P.Gmc.
*steupa- "bereft" (cf. O.Fris.
stiap-, O.N.
stjup-, Swed.
styv-, M.L.G.
stef-, Du.
stief-, O.H.G.
stiof-, Ger.
stief-), lit. "pushed out," from PIE
*steup-, from base
*(s)teu- (see
steep (adj.)). Etymologically, a
stepfather or
stepmother is one who becomes father or mother to an orphan, but the notion of orphanage faded in 20c. For sense evolution, cf. L.
privignus "stepson," related to
privus "deprived."
