English Explanatory Dictionary

father

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A male parent, especially of a human; a male who parents a child (which he has sired, adopted, fostered, taken as his own, etc.).
  2. A male who has sired a baby; this person in relation to his child or children.
  3. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor.
  4. A term of respectful address for an elderly man.
  5. A term of respectful address for a priest.
  6. A person who plays the role of a father in some way.
  7. A pioneering figure in a particular field.
  8. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.
  9. Something inanimate that begets.
  10. A member of a church council.
  11. The archived older version of a file that immediately precedes the current version, and was itself derived from the grandfather.
verb
  1. To be a father to; to sire.
  2. To give rise to.
  3. To act as a father; to support and nurture.
  4. To provide with a father.
  5. To adopt as one's own.
name
  1. God, the father of Creation.
  2. God the Father, who eternally begets the Son.
  3. One's father.
  4. One of the triune gods of the Horned God in Wicca, representing a man, younger than the elderly Sage and older than the boyish Master.
noun
  1. A title given to priests.
  2. One of the chief ecclesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ.
  3. A title given to the personification of a force of nature or abstract concept, such as Father Time or Father Frost.
  4. A senator of Ancient Rome.

Pronunciation

fäthə /ˈfɑː.ðə(ɹ)/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-father.wav făthə /ˈfæ.ðə(ɹ)/ /ˈfæ.ðɐ/ făthər /ˈfa.ðəɹ/ fäthər /ˈfɑ.ðɚ/ En-us-father.ogg /ˈfɐː.ðə/ /ˈfɒːðɚ/ /ˈfɔ.ðɚ/ /ˈfɑː.d̪ə(r)/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sravani Jampana-father.wav fāthə /ˈfeɪ.ðəɹ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Father.wav

Word forms

father fathers fathering fathered Fr.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-? Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr Proto-Germanic *fadēr Proto-West Germanic *fader Old English fæder Middle English fader English father Inherited from Middle English fader, from Old English fæder, from Proto-West Germanic *fader, from Proto-Germanic *fadēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr, from possibly *peh₂- + *-tḗr. Doublet of ayr, faeder, athair, padre, pater, and père.

Synonyms

ayr ba baba da dad dada daddio daddy father fatherling old man pa pap papa papa bear papaw pappaw pappy pater patriarch paw pawpaw peepaw pepaw pop poppa poppy pops sire mother and granddaddy

Antonyms

mother son daughter child

Related words

Father Jupiter paterfamilias paternal beget grandpa pater sire Dad Daddy Mother

Derived words

adoptive father All-Father allofather baby father babyfather be gathered to one's fathers biofather birth father birthfather birthing father city father co-father co-father-in-law conscript father elderfather eldfather father-bother merger Father Christmas father confessor fathercraft father-daughter day fatherdom fatherese father-figure father figure father-fucker fatherfucker fatherhood father hunger father-in-law father in law fatherkin fatherkins fatherland father lasher fatherless fatherlike fatherline fatherliness fatherling father longlegs fatherly fatherness father of chapel Father of Lies father of the House father of the nation father-out-law Father's Day fathership father-slayer father superior Father Time father-to-be father tongue forefather forthfather foster father founding father father to son
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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