A boy or man who is the son of one's spouse from a previous relationship or marriage.
From Old English 'steop-' meaning bereaved or deprived (originally meaning without a parent), combined with 'son'; refers to someone with a broken or altered family line.
The prefix 'step-' in stepparent, stepchild, and stepbrother means they've inherited you because of marriage, not birth—a linguistic reminder of how families aren't always biologically simple!
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