godfather

American  

[god-fah-ther] / ˈgɒdˌfɑ ðər /

noun

• godfathers
  plural

1. a man who serves as sponsor for a child at baptism.

2. any male sponsor or guardian.

3. (often initial capital letter) a powerful leader, especially of the Mafia.

4. a person who is regarded as the originator or principal shaper of a movement, school of thought, art form, industry, or the like.

   the godfather of abstract expressionism.

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verb (used with object)

1. to act as godfather to; be sponsor or protector for.

godfather British  

/ ˈɡɒdˌfɑːðə /

noun

1. a male godparent

2. the head of a Mafia family or other organized criminal ring

3. an originator or leading exponent

   the godfather of South African pop

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• godfatherly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• godfathers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of godfather

before 1000; Middle English godfader, Old English godfæder; see origin at god, father

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

godfather godfathers

Lindsey Graham and Mark Sanford were once close; so much so that Mr. and Mrs. Sanford, as they then were, named Graham godfather to their youngest son.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

When Quenda joined Chelsea, he was accompanied by his father, mother, sisters, friends, agents and his godfather Basaula Lemba, a former top-flight footballer in Portugal who also won 10 caps for Zaire.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

On Aug. 1, a 12-piece jazz ensemble will gather in tribute to the late Roy Ayers, the pioneering jazz-funk vibraphonist and godfather of neo soul.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026

So, while the growers were losing money hand over fist, housing developers were coming through with godfather offers to buy them out, convert them to row housing, and sell, sell, sell.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

“Your sister’s saying isn’t gonna save my dad and my godfather, JP.”

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

Several key figures have since walked out, among them Yann LeCun, considered one of the "godfathers" of modern AI, who had led Meta's AI research since 2013.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

LeCun, often described as one of the godfathers of AI, created an AI research organization inside Facebook in 2013 and became Meta’s chief AI scientist a few years later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026

Merrick Bobb, one of the godfathers of the modern police oversight movement in Los Angeles and beyond, has died.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2025

Neil said their parallel lives were not limited to their playing careers, remarking that they married their partners, "then it was godfathers to each other's kids. And then divorced."

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2024

In middle age he was the wealthy, respected man he had wanted to be when he was a struggling adolescent without godfathers and with no greater capital than his pride and ambition.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende