father

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A male person whose sperm unites with an egg, resulting in the conception of a child.
2. n. A man who adopts a child.
3. n. A man who raises a child.
4. n. A male parent of an animal.
5. n. A male ancestor.
6. n. A man who creates, originates, or founds something: Chaucer is considered the father of English poetry.
7. n. An early form; a prototype.
8. n. Christianity God.
9. n. Christianity The first person of the Christian Trinity.
10. n. An elderly or venerable man. Used as a title of respect.
11. n. A member of the senate in ancient Rome.
12. n. One of the leading men, as of a city: the town fathers.
13. n. A church father.
14. n. A priest or clergyman in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.
15. n. Used as a title and form of address with or without the clergyman's name.
16. v. To procreate (offspring) as the male parent.
17. v. To act or serve as a father to (a child).
18. v. To create, found, or originate.
19. v. To acknowledge responsibility for.
20. v. To attribute the paternity, creation, or origin of.
21. v. To assign falsely or unjustly; foist.
22. v. To act or serve as a father.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. He who begets a child; the nearest male ancestor; a male parent: so called in relation to the child.
2. n. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a lineal male ancestor, especially the first ancestor; the progenitor or founder of a race, family, or line: as, Ishmael was the father of the Bedouins of the desert.
3. n. One who through marriage or adoption occupies the position of a male parent; a father-in-law; a stepfather.
4. n. One who exercises paternal care over another; a fatherly protector or provider.
5. n. [capitalized] The Supreme Being.
6. n. [capitalized] In orthodox Christian phraseology, the first person of the Trinity.
7. n. A respectful title bestowed on a venerable man; an appellation of reverence or honor: as, Father Abraham.
8. n. A title given to dignitaries of the Roman Catholic and Eastern churches, to officers of monasteries and commonly to monks in general, and to confessors and priests.
9. n. A member of one of various Roman Catholic fraternities: as, Fathers of the Oratory, etc.
10. n. The title of a senator in ancient Rome. See conscript fathers, under conscript.
11. n. The eldest member of any profession, or of any body: as, father of the bar (the oldest practitioner of law); father of the House of Representatives or of the House of Commons (the man who has been a member of the body for the longest continuous period).
12. n. In universities, originally, a regent master fulfilling certain functions toward an inceptor; now, a fellow of a college appointed to attend a university examination in the interest of the students of that college.
13. n. One who creates, invents, originates, or establishes anything; the author, former, or contriver; a founder, director, or instructor; the first to practise any art; specifically, in the plural, the authors, founders, or first promoters of any great work, movement, or organization: as, Gutenberg was the father of printing; the fathers of the church (which see, below); the pilgrim fathers (see pilgrim); the fathers of the American Constitution.
14. n. In general, any real or apparent generating cause or source; that which gives rise to anything; a mainspring or moving element in a system or a process: as, “the boy is father of the man.”
15. To beget as a father; become the father or progenitor of.
16. To acknowledge or treat as a son or daughter; act as a father toward.
17. To assume as one's own; profess or acknowledge one's self to be the owner or author of.
18. To give a father to; furnish with a father.
19. To ascribe or charge to one as his offspring or production; fix the generation or authorship of: with on or upon.
20. n. The Sultan of Turkey.

Wiktionary

1. n. A male who sires (and often raises) a child.
2. n. A male donator of sperm which resulted in conception or fertilisation
3. n. A term of respectful address for an elderly man.
4. n. A term of respectful address for a priest.
5. n. A person who plays the role of a father in some way.
6. n. The founder of a discipline or science.
7. v. To be a father to; to sire.
8. v. figuratively To give rise to.
9. v. To act as a father; to support and nurture.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent.
2. n. 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.
3. n. One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection.
4. n. A respectful mode of address to an old man.
5. n. A senator of ancient Rome.
6. n. 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.
7. n. One of the chief ecclesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; -- often spoken of collectively as the Fathers.
8. n. 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.
9. n. The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first person in the Trinity.
10. v. To make one's self the father of; to beget.
11. v. 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.).
12. v. rare To provide with a father.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a person who holds an important or distinguished position in some organization
2. n. a person who founds or establishes some institution
3. n. `Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); `Padre' is frequently used in the military
4. n. the founder of a family
5. n. the head of an organized crime family
6. n. God when considered as the first person in the Trinity
7. v. make children
8. n. a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
9. n. (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became Doctor of the Church; the best known Latin Church Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom