father
noun
a man who begets offspring; a male parent.
father
American
[fah-ther]
/ ˈfɑ ðər /
noun
-
fathers
plural
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a man who begets offspring; a male parent.
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Often Father one’s own male parent.
When we were kids, Father read to us regularly.
My father is visiting us next week.
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a father-in-law, stepfather, foster father, male adoptive parent, or male guardian.
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Usually Father a term of address for a male parent or a man having or regarded as having the status, function, or authority of a male parent.
How are you, Father?
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any male ancestor, especially the founder of a family or line; progenitor.
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a man providing care or exercising influence or authority like that of a male parent.
The late professor was a father to all his students.
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the qualities characteristic of a father, such as paternal affection, protectiveness, responsibility, etc..
He had been quite a rake, but his newborn daughter quickly brought out the father in him.
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a man who has originated or established something.
Freud is often called the father of modern psychology.
The founding fathers of America took care to separate church and state.
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an early form; forerunner or prototype.
The horseless carriage was the father of the modern automobile.
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one of the most well-known or prominent men in a city, town, etc..
There was a scandal involving several of the city fathers.
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Chiefly British. the oldest living or serving member of a society, profession, etc.
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a title for something personified as an older or elderly man.
Father Time.
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a term of familiar address for an old or elderly man.
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Theology. Often the Father
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the Supreme Being; God.
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Christianity. the first person of the Trinity.
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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.
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Ecclesiastical.
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Usually Father a title of reverence, as for church dignitaries, officers of monasteries, monks, confessors, and especially priests.
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Often Father a person bearing this title.
He is a father in the Catholic church.
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Roman History. fathers, conscript fathers.
adjective
verb (used with object)
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fathers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fathered,
past participle, past
-
fathering
present participle
-
to beget; be the father of.
He fathered seven children over three marriages.
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to be the male creator, founder, or author of; originate.
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to care for or protect like a father; act paternally toward.
He’s always fathering me and checking the oil in my car.
After Dad died, my uncle fathered my brother and me.
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Archaic. to acknowledge oneself the father or originator of.
He would only father the novel if it became popular.
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Archaic. to assume as one's own; take the responsibility of.
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Archaic. to charge someone with the begetting of.
Do not try to father the boy on me.
verb (used without object)
-
fathers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fathered,
past participle, past
-
fathering
present participle
father
1
British
/ ˈfɑːðə /
noun
-
a male parent
-
a person who founds a line or family; forefather
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any male acting in a paternal capacity
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(often capital) a respectful term of address for an old man
-
a male who originates something
the father of modern psychology
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a leader of an association, council, etc; elder
a city father
-
the eldest or most senior member in a society, profession, etc
father of the bar
-
(often plural) a senator or patrician in ancient Rome
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informal a very large, severe, etc, example of a specified kind
the father of a whipping
verb
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to procreate or generate (offspring); beget
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to create, found, originate, etc
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to act as a father to
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to acknowledge oneself as father or originator of
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to impose or place without a just reason
Father
2
British
/ ˈfɑːðə /
noun
-
God, esp when considered as the first person of the Christian Trinity
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Also called: Church Father. any of the writers on Christian doctrine of the pre-Scholastic period
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a title used for Christian priests
father
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fathersimple
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fatherssimple
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have fatheredperfect
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has fatheredperfect
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am fatheringprogressive
-
are fatheringprogressive
-
is fatheringprogressive
-
have been fatheringperfect progressive
-
has been fatheringperfect progressive
Past
-
fatheredsimple
-
had fatheredperfect
-
was fatheringprogressive
-
were fatheringprogressive
-
had been fatheringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of father
First recorded before 900; Middle English fader, Old English fæder; cognate with Dutch vader, German Vater, Old Norse fathir; akin to Armenian hayr, Greek patḗr, Irish athair, Latin pater, Persian pedar, Sanskrit pitar-
Explanation
The verb father means to make children. If your dog, Tramp, fathers three puppies with the neighbor's dog, Lady, he is their father. A father is a male parent. Everyone has a biological father, even if they're not raised by him. You might call your father Dad, Daddy, Papa, Pops, or even Father. A man who helped found something, or invent it, can be called the father of that entity or invention. George Washington is considered a father of the United States, and Alexander Graham Bell is often referred to as the father of the telephone.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The All-City Crenshaw High senior linebacker was preparing to enter eighth grade in 2022 when he lost his father and mother within months of each other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
One father, Gerry, said years of disagreements with the CMS had pushed him to the brink - including after it added an extra child, who was not his, to his account.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
By 2013, they were working on their debut album, produced by their manager, who was also their father, Cecil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
But first Flávio must convince voters to treat him as a stand-in for his father.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
My father will be at his office, and Tuesday mornings are when my mother makes her weekly round of social calls.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Father John, who didn't provide his last name, wrote in to BBC Your Voice to say he'd like to be able to perform ceremonies like this too.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Father and son then begin plotting together to take back the palace from the suitors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Before Les Voiles, Father Gouarin conducts the traditional blessing of the boats from the balcony.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
“They knew the risks,” said Father Rigoberto Cruz, a local Catholic priest, of the dead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
“Come on, boy,” Father says without looking at me.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The pain and anguish it is causing behind closed doors is clear from interviews AFP conducted across the country, with even deeply religious fathers questioning the ruling.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
The results suggest that Shimao's social hierarchy was organized through patrilineal descent, meaning ancestry and status were traced through fathers.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
But I think allowing for the fathers or other family members to fill in that space is important.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
For them, nuclear families in general, and fathers in particular, were an obstacle to central planning schemes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Both of them lost their fathers, not like the eaglet lost his.
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
The safari park lost its previous bull Thorn, who fathered 29 calves over the course of his life, in 2024.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Some males fathered more calves than others, but the difference was not as extreme as researchers had expected.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026
Fritz, who also fathered a son at 19, became the only American man of his generation to reach a Grand Slam final at the 2024 U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026
He has since fathered five children through a pair of surrogates and anonymous egg donors.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
“I could not have fathered an imperfect child,” Mr. Derby declared.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
In 2015 he admitted to fathering a child with his lover.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
There’s little airtight data on the fathering brain; cohorts are small; some results await replication while others confound analysis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Shi was investigated for embezzlement and fathering several children in 2015, but was later cleared of the charges.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
As older whales became more common, they also became more successful at fathering calves than their younger competitors.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2026
Back then, Cool Papa Byrd had been light on the fathering side.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
