Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Father; papa.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A Scotch form of pall.
  • An abbreviation of Pennsylvania.
  • noun A more childish form of papa.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A shortened form of papa.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun colloquial Father, papa.
  • noun A short form of grandpa, grandfather.
  • noun A Maori fort.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a short-lived radioactive metallic element formed from uranium and disintegrating into actinium and then into lead
  • noun a unit of pressure equal to one newton per square meter
  • noun an electronic amplification system used as a communication system in public areas
  • noun an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
  • noun a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
  • adverb by the year; every year (usually with reference to a sum of money paid or received)
  • noun an electronic amplification system used as a communication system in public areas

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Short for papa.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened from papa.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pa.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Old-timey for father. Also, an acronym for public address, passive-aggressive, physician's assistant, and the postal abbreviation for Pennsylvania.

    October 10, 2007

  • Here we use it as an acronym for production associate. I understand in the film industry there are also production assistants.

    October 10, 2007

  • Pa. Chemical element symbol for Protactinium.

    December 16, 2007

  • In filming, another name for a runner.

    August 7, 2008

  • Figured prominently in that well-known campaign attack ditty from the presidential election of 1884:

    Ma, ma,

    where's my pa?

    Off to the White House,

    ha, ha, ha!

    Despite allegations that he fathered an illegitimate child, Grover Cleveland won the election.

    September 10, 2008