Maltese edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Sicilian Stefanu, from Latin Stephanus, from Ancient Greek Στέφανος (Stéphanos). Being an early borrowing, the word shows the regular phonetic development, i.e. loss of internal unstressed vowels and raising of the imala vowel.

Pronunciation edit

Proper noun edit

Stiefnu m

  1. (biblical) Stephan (saint and first Christian martyr)
  2. a male given name from Sicilian [in turn from Latin, in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Steven or Stephen
    Alternative forms: Steno, Fefu