Word
stephen
Phoneticsstephen
/ˈstivən/
Definitions
01given name
n. a common name for a man or boy.
n. A masculine given name, widely used in English-speaking countries and derived from the Greek word for 'crown'.
“Stephen is starting his new job at the bank on Monday morning.”
“Stephen was named after his grandfather, following a long-standing family tradition of passing down the name to the firstborn son.”
Pitfall
I met a man named Stefan.
I met a man named Stephen.
While pronounced the same, 'Stephen' and 'Steven' are the most common English spellings; 'Stefan' is usually the European variant.
Synonyms
02historical/religious figure
n. a famous person from history or the Bible with this name.
n. Refers to Saint Stephen, recognized in Christian tradition as the first martyr, or other historical figures such as King Stephen of England.
“The local church is named after Saint Stephen.”
“The historian argued that the reign of King Stephen was one of the most turbulent periods in medieval English history.”
Formal
Etymology
From Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, “crown, wreath”), from στέφω (stéphō, “to put round, to surround”). From stegʷʰ- (“to enlace”) + -νος (-nos, suffix forming an adjective or noun) from Proto-Indo-European -nós (suffix forming a verbal adjective from a verb stem).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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