English
Stephen
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈstiːvən/ (most common Anglophone pronunciation)
  • IPA: /ˈstɛfən/
Proper noun
  1. The first Christian martyr.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Acts 6:8 ↗:
      :
      And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
  2. A male given name.
    • 1852 William Harrison Ainsworth, Tale of a Carpet-Bag, Ainsworth's Magazine, Vol. 21, page 17:
      I, for my part, ask any candid reader if it was not bad enough to be called Broadfoot, without having it aggravated into Stephen Broadfoot? I feel confident I will here get a tear of sympathy from all unhappy Andrews and Peters, and Aarons and Samuels, with a smile of disdainful compassion from thrice-happy Franks and Charleys and Bills.
    • 1952 Thomas Pyles, Words and Ways of American English, Random House, page 245:
      It is doubtless true that American English lacks a tradition for the pronunciation of Anthony, a name which was not often bestowed upon American males until the comparatively recent craze for supposedly swank "British" Christian names, like Stephen, Peter, Michael, etc., in this country.
    • 2000 Helen DeWitt, The Last Samurai, Miramax Books(2002), ISBN 0786887001, page 142:
      I thought that ideally it should be a name which could work whether he was serious and reserved or butch, a name like Stephen which could be Steve or David which could be Dave.
  3. Surname
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