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

Bengio is a University of Montreal professor who won the 2018 Turing Award, computing's Nobel, alongside Geoffrey Hinton, widely known as the "godfather of AI."

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

Inspiration came from a noble predecessor, Charles Ives, the godfather of modern American music.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Sheen said PCBs were now known as "the godfather of forever chemicals".

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

As for the second question, if I were former Dodgers owner and aerial tram godfather Frank McCourt, I’d fasten my seat belt, because the gondola is about to hit some heavy turbulence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

For the next half-century, the concerto reigned supreme, and its godfather, or archangel perhaps, was composer-violinist Arcangelo Corelli.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

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

Despite worldwide renown as one of the godfathers of artificial intelligence, he has been increasingly sidelined as the company’s approach diverged from his views on the technology’s future.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025

The three "godfathers" have publicly stated opposing views on how dangerous AI could be.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025

“The two godfathers of the industry have divergent opinions on such a fundamental question.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025

The next Saturday, Desdemona, seized with conflicting emotions, watched as the children’s godfathers held them above the baptismal font at Assumption.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides