godfather

American  

[god-fah-ther] / ˈgɒdˌfɑ ðər /

noun

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

• godfatherly adjective

Etymology

Origin of godfather

before 1000; Middle English godfader, Old English godfæder; god, father

Example Sentences

Netflix, as the godfather of movie streaming, has historically bypassed theatrical runs and sent only some of its original films to theaters for brief periods.

From The Wall Street Journal

Those who chose the dimly lit path happened upon their version of an A-list celebrity: the man known as the godfather of AI.

From The Wall Street Journal

At a different event in Washington, Sanders recently pressed Geoffrey Hinton, considered one of the godfathers of AI, on what AI could mean for employment.

From The Wall Street Journal

His key mentors were legendary GE CEO Jack Welch and John Malone, considered the godfather of the modern-day cable industry.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bill James — the godfather of baseball analytics, who coined the phrase sabermetric in the late 1970s — did not revolutionize the way the sports industry looked at data so we could have more prop bets.

From Los Angeles Times