stepbairn, n.
(ˈstɛpbɛən)
[OE. stéopbearn: see step-. Cf. ON. stj{uacu}pbarn (Sw. styfbarn, Da. stifbarn) in sense 2.]
† 1. An orphan. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives ix. 63 Þæt mann..steopbearnum ᵹehelpe. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 115 He scal biwerian widewan and steopbern. a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 38 Til stepbarn þou sall be helpere. |
2. Sc. A stepson or stepdaughter; = stepchild 2.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 402 Suppois scho wes bot hir stepbarne as than. 1631 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 76 And that if any were a Stepbairn, in respect of comfort and sense, it were rather myself than His poor bairns. 1721 J. Kelly Sc. Prov. 328 That's the piece the Step-Bairn never got. 1909 R. J. Drummond Faith's Cert. 329 There are no step-bairns in the family of God. |
Hence † ˈstepbairn v. Sc., trans. to treat as a step-child.
| 1606 W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 34 Why doe they so partially step-barne the pursse-miserable poore from such a soul-helpe? |