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Father - 7 dictionary results

fa⋅ther

  [fah-ther]
Use Father in a Sentence
–noun
1. a male parent.
2. a father-in-law, stepfather, or adoptive father.
3. any male ancestor, esp. the founder of a race, family, or line; progenitor.
4. a man who exercises paternal care over other persons; paternal protector or provider: a father to the poor.
5. a person who has originated or established something: the father of modern psychology; the founding fathers.
6. a precursor, prototype, or early form: The horseless carriage was the father of the modern automobile.
7. one of the leading men in a city, town, etc.: a scandal involving several of the city fathers.
8. Chiefly British. the oldest member of a society, profession, etc. Compare dean 1 (def. 3).
9. a priest.
10. (initial capital letter) Theology. the Supreme Being and Creator; God.
11. a title of respect for an elderly man.
12. the Father, Theology. the first person of the Trinity.
13. Also called church father. Church History. any of the chief early Christian writers, whose works are the main sources for the history, doctrines, and observances of the church in the early ages.
14. Ecclesiastical.
a. (often initial capital letter) a title of reverence, as for church dignitaries, officers of monasteries, monks, confessors, and esp. priests.
b. a person bearing this title.
15. fathers, Roman History. conscript fathers.
–verb (used with object)
16. to beget.
17. to be the creator, founder, or author of; originate.
18. to act as a father toward.
19. to acknowledge oneself the father of.
20. to assume as one's own; take the responsibility of.
21. to charge with the begetting of.
–verb (used without object)
22. to perform the tasks or duties of a male parent; act paternally: Somehow he was able to write a book while fathering.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME fader, OE fæder; c. G Vater, L pater, Gk patr, Skt pitar, OIr athir, Armenian hayr

Related forms:
fa⋅ther⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fa·ther   (fä'thər)   
n.  
    1. A male person whose sperm unites with an egg, resulting in the conception of a child.
    2. A man who adopts a child.
    3. A man who raises a child.
    4. God.
    5. The first person of the Christian Trinity.
    6. A priest or clergyman in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.
    7. Used as a title and form of address with or without the clergyman's name.
  2. A male parent of an animal.
  3. A male ancestor.
  4. A man who creates, originates, or founds something: Chaucer is considered the father of English poetry.
  5. An early form; a prototype.
  6. Father Christianity
    1. God.
    2. The first person of the Christian Trinity.
    3. A priest or clergyman in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.
    4. Used as a title and form of address with or without the clergyman's name.
  7. An elderly or venerable man. Used as a title of respect.
  8. A member of the senate in ancient Rome.
  9. One of the leading men, as of a city: the town fathers.
  10. or Father A church father.
  11. Abbr. Fr.
    1. A priest or clergyman in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.
    2. Used as a title and form of address with or without the clergyman's name.
v.   fa·thered, fa·ther·ing, fa·thers

v.   tr.
  1. To procreate (offspring) as the male parent.
  2. To act or serve as a father to (a child).
  3. To create, found, or originate.
  4. To acknowledge responsibility for.
    1. To attribute the paternity, creation, or origin of.
    2. To assign falsely or unjustly; foist.
v.   intr.
To act or serve as a father.

[Middle English fader, from Old English fæder; see pəter- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Father

Fa"ther\, n. [OE. fader, AS. f[ae]der; akin to OS. fadar, D. vader, OHG. fatar, G. vater, Icel. Fa?ir Sw. & Dan. fader, OIr. athir, L. pater, Gr. ?????, Skr. pitr, perh. fr. Skr. p[=a] protect. ???,???. Cf. Papa, Paternal, Patriot, Potential, Pablum.]

1. One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent.

A wise son maketh a glad father. --Prov. x. 1.

2. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or family; -- in the plural, fathers, ancestors.

David slept with his fathers. --1 Kings ii. 10.

Abraham, who is the father of us all. --Rom. iv. 16.

3. One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection.

I was a father to the poor. --Job xxix. 16.

He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house. --Gen. xiv. 8.

4. A respectful mode of address to an old man.

And Joash the king og Israel came down unto him [Elisha], . . . and said, O my father, my father! --2 Kings xiii. 14.

5. A senator of ancient Rome.

6. A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a confessor (called also father confessor), or a priest; also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a legislative assembly, etc.

Bless you, good father friar ! --Shak.

7. One of the chief esslesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; -- often spoken of collectively as the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers.

8. One who, or that which, gives origin; an originator; a producer, author, or contriver; the first to practice any art, profession, or occupation; a distinguished example or teacher.

The father of all such as handle the harp and organ. --Gen. iv. 21.

Might be the father, Harry, to that thought. --Shak.

The father of good news. --Shak.

9. The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first person in the Trinity.

Our Father, which art in heaven. --Matt. vi. 9.

Now had the almighty Father from above . . . Bent down his eye. --Milton.

Adoptive father, one who adopts the child of another, treating it as his own.

Apostolic father, Conscript fathers, etc. See under Apostolic, Conscript, etc.

Father in God, a title given to bishops.

Father of lies, the Devil.

Father of the bar, the oldest practitioner at the bar.

Fathers of the city, the aldermen.

Father of the Faithful. (a) Abraham. --Rom. iv. --Gal. iii. 6-9. (b) Mohammed, or one of the sultans, his successors.

Father of the house, the member of a legislative body who has had the longest continuous service.

Most Reverend Father in God, a title given to archbishops and metropolitans, as to the archbishops of Canterbury and York.

Natural father, the father of an illegitimate child.

Putative father, one who is presumed to be the father of an illegitimate child; the supposed father.

Spiritual father. (a) A religious teacher or guide, esp. one instrumental in leading a soul to God. (b) (R. C. Ch.) A priest who hears confession in the sacrament of penance.

The Holy Father (R. C. Ch.), the pope.

Father

Fa"ther\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fathered; p. pr. & vb. n. Fathering.]

1. To make one's self the father of; to beget.

Cowards father cowards, and base things sire base. --Shak.

2. To take as one's own child; to adopt; hence, to assume as one's own work; to acknowledge one's self author of or responsible for (a statement, policy, etc.).

Men of wit Often fathered what he writ. --Swift.

3. To provide with a father. [R.]

Think you I am no stronger than my sex, Being so fathered and so husbanded ? --Shak.

To father on or upon, to ascribe to, or charge upon, as one's offspring or work; to put or lay upon as being responsible. "Nothing can be so uncouth or extravagant, which may not be fathered on some fetch of wit, or some caprice of humor." --Barrow.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Father
Spanish: padre,
German: der Vater,
Japanese: 父親
More Translations »

father  (n.)
O.E. fæder, from P.Gmc. *fader (cf. O.N. faðir, Ger. vater), from PIE *p@ter (cf. Skt. pitar-, Gk. pater, L. pater, O.Pers. pita, O.Ir. athir "father"), presumably from baby-speak sound like pa. The classic example of Grimm's Law, where PIE "p-" becomes Gmc. "f-." Spelling with -th- (16c.) reflects widespread phonetic shift in M.E. that turned -der to -ther in many words; spelling caught up to pronunciation in 1500s (cf. burden, murder). Fatherland (1623) is usually a loan-transl. of Ger. Vaterland, itself a loan-transl. of L. patria (terra), lit. "father's land." Father's Day dates back to 1910 in Spokane, Wash., but was not widespread until 1943, in imitation of Mother's Day.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Father

a name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings 2:12; Matt. 23:9, etc.). (3) The author or beginner of anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Gen. 4:20, 21; comp. Job 38:28). Applied to God (Ex. 4:22; Deut. 32:6; 2 Sam. 7:14; Ps. 89:27, 28, etc.). (1.) As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews (Jer. 31:9; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; John 8:41, etc.). (2.) Believers are called God's "sons" (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16; Matt. 6:4, 8, 15, 18; 10:20, 29). They also call him "Father" (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:4)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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father

see like father, like son.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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