father
a male parent.
a father-in-law, stepfather, or adoptive father.
any male ancestor, especially the founder of a family or line; progenitor.
a man who exercises paternal care over other people; paternal protector or provider: a father to his students.
a person who has originated or established something: the father of modern psychology;the founding fathers.
a precursor, prototype, or early form: The horseless carriage was the father of the modern automobile.
one of the most well-known or prominent men in a city, town, etc.: a scandal involving several of the city fathers.
Chiefly British. the oldest member of a society, profession, etc.: Compare dean (def. 3).
Literary. a title of respect for an elderly man, or for something personified as an elderly man: Father Time.
Father, Theology.
the Supreme Being; God.
the first person of the Trinity.
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.
Ecclesiastical.
(often initial capital letter) a title of reverence, as for church dignitaries, officers of monasteries, monks, confessors, and especially priests.
a person bearing this title.
fathers, Roman History. conscript fathers.
to beget; be the father of: He fathered seven children over three marriages.
to be the creator, founder, or author of; originate.
to care for or protect like a father; act paternally toward: He’s always fathering me and telling me to eat more vegetables.Our cat fathered the orphaned kittens.
Archaic. to acknowledge oneself the father of: He would only father the novel if it became popular.
to assume as one's own; take the responsibility of.
to charge with the begetting of.
to perform the tasks or duties of a male parent; act paternally: He fathers like he’s been doing it for years, though his kid is only three months old.
Origin of father
1Other words from father
- fa·ther·like, adjective
Words Nearby father
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use father in a sentence
“I think that Joe Biden will be the person to protect Anthony and those with preexisting conditions,” the father says.
Trump contradicts CDC director on vaccine; Biden says Americans shouldn’t trust Trump | Colby Itkowitz, Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostSix unknowing months before the start of the Great Depression, my father arrived.
Dawn of the Heliocene - Issue 90: Something Green | Summer Praetorius | September 16, 2020 | NautilusWhile DeFazio and other lawmakers haven’t called for a permanent grounding of the jet, the father of a woman who died in the Ethiopia crash said the report raised questions about the plane’s return to service.
Boeing crashes were the “horrific culmination” of multiple mistakes, House report says | kdunn6 | September 16, 2020 | FortuneI have been yelled at basically my entire life, from my father, my family, to high school.
Momofuku’s David Chang on the big changes the restaurant industry needs to make to survive | Beth Kowitt | September 14, 2020 | FortuneAnthony Mallott said that no one asked his father to resign, and that he did so voluntarily.
The Woman Propositioned by Alaska’s Former Lieutenant Governor Tells Her Story for the First Time | by Kyle Hopkins and Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News | September 10, 2020 | ProPublica
What matters is being honest, humble, and a faithful and loyal friend, father and member of your community.
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv | Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTfather Joel Román Salazar died in a car crash in 2013; his death was ruled an accident, but the suspicion of foul play persists.
Charles “father” Coughlin, a raving anti-Semite, was one of the most popular radio hosts in the country.
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America? | Emily Shire | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTYou will have your beloved father back sooner than you think, and you can visit and communicate with him all the while.
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv | Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST“There is a heavy security presence but nothing has changed,” agrees father Javier.
There was a rumor that Alessandro and his father had both died; but no one knew anything certainly.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonAnd he was gone, and out of sight on the swift galloping Benito, before father Gaspara bethought himself.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonAt this same time they seized in Nangasaqui a servant of the father provincial, Matheo Couros, who was washing his clothes.
He wanted to tell her that if she called her father, it would mean the end of everything for them, but he withheld this.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxThe father had been in sore straits of mind, as month after month had passed without tidings of his "blessed child."
Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
British Dictionary definitions for father (1 of 2)
/ (ˈfɑːðə) /
a male parent
a person who founds a line or family; forefather
any male acting in a paternal capacity: Related adjective: paternal
(often capital) a respectful term of address for an old man
a male who originates something: the father of modern psychology
a leader of an association, council, etc; elder: a city father
British the eldest or most senior member in a society, profession, etc: father of the bar
(often plural) a senator or patrician in ancient Rome
the father of informal a very large, severe, etc, example of a specified kind: the father of a whipping
to procreate or generate (offspring); beget
to create, found, originate, etc
to act as a father to
to acknowledge oneself as father or originator of
(foll by on or upon) to impose or place without a just reason
Origin of father
1Derived forms of father
- fathering, noun
British Dictionary definitions for Father (2 of 2)
/ (ˈfɑːðə) /
God, esp when considered as the first person of the Christian Trinity
Also called: Church Father any of the writers on Christian doctrine of the pre-Scholastic period
a title used for Christian priests
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with father
see like father, like son.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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