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definitions

housefather

[ hous-fah-th er ]
/ ˈhaʊsˌfɑ ðər /
|

noun

a man responsible for a group of young people, as students, living in a dormitory, hostel, etc.

Nearby words

  1. houseclean,
  2. housecleaning,
  3. housecoat,
  4. housed string,
  5. housedress,
  6. housefly,
  7. houseful,
  8. houseguest,
  9. household,
  10. household ammonia

Origin of housefather

1545–55; house + father; compare Latin paterfamilias
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for housefather

  • Blood relationship, family, and the rulership of the housefather are in this early period the base and centre of social order.

    Women of the Teutonic Nations|Hermann Schoenfeld

  • “Nothing warm in the house,” said the housefather, a carpenter himself.

    A Tramp's Wallet|William Duthie

  • Go only to Father Balthazar, housefather, and see if he doth not call it a sending of a lamb among wolves.

    The Dove in the Eagle's Nest|Charlotte M. Yonge

British Dictionary definitions for housefather

housefather

/ (ˈhaʊsˌfɑːðə) /

noun

a man in charge of the welfare of a particular group of children in an institution such as a children's home or approved school
Derived Formshousemother, fem n
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