Mark wrote: > A stepbrother has no genetic relationship to you and should not be > confused with a half-brother (hyphen required, IMHO), who is the son of > one of your parents but not the other. This situation typically arises > when someone who has a child by a previous marriage remarries and has a > child with the new spouse. The children of the remarried person, by the > different marriages, are each other's half-siblings. > > "Full brother" can be used to refer to a male who is the (genetic) son > of both the people who are your (genetic) parents, to distinguish him > from a half- or step-brother. One note from personal experience that the more frequently you can drop the step or half- when referring to your brother, the better your relationship will be. It may be necessary occasionally for clarification, but most people don't need to know that my brother and I don't share the same mother. Either they know it from some other context or it is irrelevant to most discussions. "So, how come your brother's so [good looking/smart/different/tall/skinny/athletic/intellectual]?" "What am I, chopped liver?" "Oh, No. It's just..." "Yeah, I know. He's my half-brother." "Oh, that explains it."