father

Main Entry:: ¹fa·ther
Pronunciation:: \ˈfä-thər\
Function:: noun
Etymology:: Middle English fader, from Old English fæder; akin to Old High German fater father, Latin pater, Greek patēr
Date:: before 12th century

1 a: a man who has begotten a child ; also : sire 3 bcapitalized (1): god 1 (2): the first person of the Trinity2: forefather3 a: one related to another in a way suggesting that of father to child b: an old man —used as a respectful form of address4often capitalized : a pre-Scholastic Christian writer accepted by the church as an authoritative witness to its teaching and practice —called also church father5 a: one that originates or institutes <the father of modern science> b: source <the sun, the father of warmth and light — Lena M. Whitney> c: prototype6: a priest of the regular clergy ; broadly : priest —used especially as a title7: one of the leading men (as of a city) —usually used in plural

— fa·ther·hood

\-ˌhu̇d\ noun

— fa·ther·less

\-ləs\ adjective

— fa·ther·like

\-ˌlīk\ adjective or adverb

Learn more about "father" and related topics at Britannica.com

See a map of "father" in the Visual Thesaurus

Find Jobs in Your City

Pronunciation Symbols