Definitions for Stephen
ˈsti vənstephen

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Stephen, Sir Leslie Stephennoun

   English writer (1832-1904)

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Stephennoun

   The first Christian martyr.

2. Stephennoun

   A male given name from Ancient Greek.

   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.

3. Stephennoun

   A patronymic surname.

4. Etymology: From Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos), from στέφανος (stéphanos, " crown, wreath"), from στέφω (stéphō, " to put round, to surround") (from Proto-Indo-European *steb-, *stebʰ-, *stemb-, *stembʰ- ("to support; to stomp; to curse; to be amazed")) + -νος (-nos, " suffix forming an adjective or noun") (from Proto-Indo-European *-nós ("suffix forming a verbal adjective from a verb stem")).

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Stephen

   Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen (Greek: Στέφανος Stéphanos), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or "protomartyr") of the Christian Church. In English, Stephen is most commonly pronounced as STEEV-ən (). The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is often shortened to Steve or Stevie. The spelling as Stephen can also be pronounced STEF-ən which is from the Greek original version, Stephanos. In English, the female version of the name is Stephanie. Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times the name has sometimes been given with intentionally non-standard spelling, such as Stevan or Stevon. A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan ; related names that have found some currency or significance in English include Stefan (pronounced or in English), Esteban (often pronounced ), and the Shakespearean Stephano ().

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Stephen

   king of England from 1135 to 1154, nephew of Henry I., his mother being Adela, daughter of William I.; acquired French possessions through the favour of his uncle and by his marriage; in 1127 swore fealty to his cousin Matilda, daughter of Henry I., as his future sovereign, but on the death of his uncle usurped the throne, an action leading to a violent civil war, which brought the country into a state of anarchy; the Scots invaded on behalf of Matilda, but were beaten back at Northallerton (the Battle of the Standard, 1138); foreign mercenaries introduced by the king only served to embitter the struggle; the clergy, despoiled by the king, turned against him, and in the absence of a strong central authority the barons oppressed the people and fought with one another; "Adulterine Castles" sprang up over the country, and "men said openly that Christ and His saints were asleep"; in 1141 Matilda won the battle of Lincoln and for a few months ruled the country, but "as much too harsh as Stephen was too lenient," she rapidly became unpopular, and Stephen was soon again in the ascendant; the successes of Henry, son of Matilda, led in 1153 to the treaty of Wallingford, by which it was arranged that Stephen should retain the crown for life, while Henry should be his heir; both joined in suppressing the turbulent barons and the "Adulterine Castles"; more fortunately circumstanced, Stephen had many qualities which might have made him a popular and successful king (1105-1154).

2. Stephen

   the name of nine Popes; S. I., Pope from 253 to 257, signalised by his zeal against the heresies of his time; S. II., Pope from 752 to 757, in whose reign, under favour of Pepin le Bref, began the temporal power of the Popes; S. III., Pope from 768 to 772, sanctioned the worship of saints and images; S. IV., Pope from 816 to 817; S. V., Pope from 885 to 891, distinguished for his charity; S. VI., Pope from 896 to 897, strangled after a reign of 18 months; S. VII., Pope from 829 to 831, entirely under the control of his mistresses; S. VIII., Pope from 939 to 942; S. IX., Pope from 1057 to 1058, vigorously opposed the sale of benefices and the immorality of the clergy.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. stephen

   Quotes by stephen -- Explore a large variety of famous quotes made by stephen on the Quotes.net website.

2. stephen

   Song lyrics by stephen -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by stephen on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Writer

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Stephen' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2122

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Stephen' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3126

How to pronounce Stephen?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Stephen in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Stephen in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Stephen in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of Stephen in a Sentence

1. Stephen Biddle:

   No president can afford to let Stephen Biddle be seen to be, in general, a kind of weak or declining power, so I think there will actually be some pretty, pretty important consequences there.

2. Larry Wilmore:

   Stephen was so funny and so unique, he had such a legion of fans and he's a special performer. The way I look at it is I have to be myself and do my own thing and do something different. Stephen is going to be off doing something new himself (on CBS). I'll be more in competition with myself than with Stephen. I'll be more in competition with the new Stephen, to be honest.

3. Mark Krikorian:

   There's no question that there's a limit to what they can do without changes from Congress. The question is how realistic are the President's expectations ? Is he expecting them to solve this problem or is he expecting them to make some progress so that he can then go to the public and to Congress and say Congress has to do its part too ? that's kind of up to the President. That's not really something Stephen can do.

4. Marilyn Satin Kushner:

   Instead of looking in, Stephen looked out, these are great photographs of a very historic moment.

5. Jim Parsons:

   So much of our show is related, based on, adjacent to everything that Stephen Hawking did, strove to do, thought about, was passionate about through Stephen Hawking entire life and career. The fact that Stephen Hawking knew of our show, was interested in being on it, was willing to come play with us group of monkeys for a couple days was really moving, it was just, it was an amazing experience. It was an intimidating one. I ’d be lying if I said I was comfortable. … To get to finally meet him was, it was just overwhelming.

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