marâtre

French

Etymology

From Old French marastre, from Vulgar Latin *matrastra, from Latin māter (mother). Cognate to Catalan madrastra, Spanish madrastra, Portuguese madrasta. Replaced by French belle-mère.

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /ma.ʁɑtʁ/

Noun

marâtre f (plural marâtres) (Masculine: parâtre)

  1. A stepmother (especially an evil one, as the -âtre suffix came to be a pejorative)
  2. An abusive, wicked birth mother

Further reading

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