Definitions

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

  • noun A male whose sperm unites with an egg, producing an embryo.
  • noun A male whose impregnation of a female results in the birth of a child.
  • noun A man who adopts a child.
  • noun A man who raises a child.
  • noun A male parent of an animal.
  • noun A male ancestor.
  • noun A man who creates, originates, or founds something.
  • noun A man who serves or is thought of as a protector.
  • noun God.
  • noun The first person of the Christian Trinity.
  • noun An elderly or venerable man. Used as a title of respect.
  • noun One of the leading men, as of a city.
  • noun A church father.
  • noun A member of the senate in ancient Rome.
  • noun A priest or clergyman in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.
  • noun Used as a title and form of address with or without the clergyman's name.
  • intransitive verb To provide the sperm that unites with an egg to produce (an embryo, fetus, or child).
  • intransitive verb To act or serve as a father to (a child).
  • intransitive verb To create, found, or originate.
  • intransitive verb To attribute the paternity, creation, or origin of.
  • intransitive verb To act or serve as a father.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To beget as a father; become the father or progenitor of.
  • To acknowledge or treat as a son or daughter; act as a father toward.
  • To assume as one's own; profess or acknowledge one's self to be the owner or author of.
  • To give a father to; furnish with a father.
  • To ascribe or charge to one as his offspring or production; fix the generation or authorship of: with on or upon.
  • noun He who begets a child; the nearest male ancestor; a male parent: so called in relation to the child.
  • noun 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.
  • noun One who through marriage or adoption occupies the position of a male parent; a father-in-law; a stepfather.
  • noun One who exercises paternal care over another; a fatherly protector or provider.
  • noun [capitalized] The Supreme Being.
  • noun [capitalized] In orthodox Christian phraseology, the first person of the Trinity.
  • noun A respectful title bestowed on a venerable man; an appellation of reverence or honor: as, Father Abraham.
  • noun 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.
  • noun A member of one of various Roman Catholic fraternities: as, Fathers of the Oratory, etc.
  • noun The title of a senator in ancient Rome. See conscript fathers, under conscript.
  • noun 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).
  • noun 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.
  • noun 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.
  • noun 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.”
  • noun The Sultan of Turkey.

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

  • noun One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent.
  • noun 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.
  • noun One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection.

Etymologies

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

[Middle English fader, from Old English fæder; see pəter- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English fader, from Old English fæder, from Proto-Germanic *fadēr (cf. West Frisian faar, North Frisian faaðer, Low German Fader, Dutch vader, German Vater, Danish fader), from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr (cf. Irish athair, Tocharian A pācar, B pācer, Lithuanian patinas 'male animal'), akin to Latin pater, akin to Ancient Greek πατήρ (patēr), akin to Sankskrit पितृ (pitṛ, "father").

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Examples

  • A father might sell his children as servants, i.e., his _daughters_, in which circumstance it was understood the daughter was to be the wife or daughter-in-law of the man who bought her, and the _father_ received the price.

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus American Anti-Slavery Society

  • A father might sell his children as servants, i.e. his _daughters_, in which circumstance it was understood the daughter was to be the wife or daughter-in-law of the man who bought her, and the _father_ received the price.

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 1 of 4 American Anti-Slavery Society

  • A father might sell his children as servants, i.e. his _daughters_, in which circumstance it was understood the daughter was to be the wife or daughter-in-law of the man who bought her, and the _father_ received the price.

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus American Anti-Slavery Society

  • A father might sell his children as servants, i.e., his _daughters_, in which circumstance it was understood the daughter was to be the wife or daughter-in-law of the man who bought her, and the _father_ received the price.

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 1 of 4 American Anti-Slavery Society

  • "But, father," the Golden Maiden said -- she called him _father_ now and it pleased him mightily; "father, I should rather marry Janko!"

    The Laughing Prince Jugoslav Folk and Fairy Tales Parker Fillmore 1911

  • "Do you mean to tell me," she inquired, with something approaching sternness, "that my father -- _my father_ -- was ever fond of poetry and -- and music, and -- and all that sort of thing?"

    With the Procession Henry Blake Fuller 1893

  • I cannot conscientiously add _father_; for, at a certain early period of her history, the child showed a decided preference for her uncle over her father.

    The Vicar's Daughter George MacDonald 1864

  • 'My poor grandfather, Mr Palmer, to save a son, _my father_' -- this was said with infinite sadness -- 'yes, my father, from disgrace, borrowed a sum of money, a very large sum, from the old Squire.

    Bristol Bells A Story of the Eighteenth Century Emma Marshall 1864

  • Christ, my Lord, had died for them as well as for me; and here was my father, — _my father_ — practically saying that they should not hear of it, nor know the message He had sent to them.

    Daisy Susan Warner 1852

  • Christ, my Lord, had died for them as well as for me; and here was my father -- _my father_ -- practically saying that they should not hear of it, nor know the message He had sent to them.

    Daisy Susan Warner 1852

Comments

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  • Someone who has redeemed the money in his wallet for snapshots.

    February 21, 2008

  • verb, to make a woman fat.

    May 5, 2008

  • verb, to make a woman fat.

    May 5, 2008