padre
Americannoun
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father (used especially in addressing or referring to a priest or member of the clergy).
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a chaplain in military or naval service.
noun
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father: used to address or refer to a clergyman, esp a priest
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a chaplain to the armed forces
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of padre
1575–85; < Spanish, Portuguese, Italian: father < Latin pater
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
After confiding in a padre - a military chaplain - the 56-year-old says she was reported to bosses and admitted to hospital, where she was held in isolation.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
At the Met as Idamante — another trouser role — she found clear paths between soft, somber tones and quicksilver intensity, her “Il padre adorato” commanding yet sweet, crystal clear and diamond sharp.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 13, 2022
And at the end, when she dies, she says, “Mio padre, addio!”
From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2022
“It’s easier to talk padre a padre in our language instead of the academic words doctors or government people use,” said Vargas, 37.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2021
Two hours later, the padre bellows Enrique’s name.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
“When the padres came through … they used the words ‘a land of abundance.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025
“But my parents … mi padres … they told me to learn English,” she explains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2024
Brought to the New World by the Spanish padres, the pomegranate is a curious and beautiful fruit, an ancient symbol of birth and eternal life.
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2012
I want it to hold the romance of the Pilgrim fathers … the romance of the Spanish conquistadores and of the French padres.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2012
“Okay, mi amor. Your mom said there’s some picadillo in the kitchen. Tus padres won’t be back until later tonight. Eat, okay? Estás muy flaquito.”
From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya
We shook hands with our smiling friends among the padri, took leave of the archbishop, and then visited the studio of Padre Alessio, who had just finished a faithful and spirited portrait of monsignore.
From Venetian Life by Howells, William Dean
There!--this has done more to make me believe in a Providence than all the preaching of all the padri of Italy!
From The Wing-and-Wing Le Feu-Follet by Cooper, James Fenimore
Santa Maria!—what is it they are saying about Fra Paolo finding the die for making money that the padri left behind?
From A Golden Book of Venice by Turnbull, Lawrence, Mrs.
The stewards, most of whom understood a few words of English, readily grasped the fact that the padri was asking for help in a situation which they well knew to be desperate.
From The Captain of the Kansas by Tracy, Louis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
