pater

[pey-ter; also for 2, 3 pat-er]

noun

British Informal. father.

(often initial capital letter) the paternoster; Lord's Prayer.

a recitation of it.

Origin of pater

1300–50; Middle English < Latin: father

Pater

[pey-ter]

noun

Walter Horatio,1839–94, English critic, essayist, and novelist.

Pater Patriae

[pah-ter pah-tree-ahy; English pey-ter pey-tree-ee, pat-er pa-tree-ee]

noun

Latin. father of his country.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pater

fitting, plumb, fondle, hit, form, dab, pet, tip, rub, punch, slap, whittle, beat, stroke, caress, mold, massage, cake, portion, piece

Examples from the Web for pater

Historical Examples of pater

Mr. Pater let me know that he was writing on it for the Guardian.
A Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume II
Mrs. Humphry Ward
No, pater; but you may be taking on a bigger business than you reckon.
Howards End
E. M. Forster
"Pater, we may as well keep Howards End out of it," he said.
Howards End
E. M. Forster
You're bound to listen to me, for what's the use of calling me 'pater,' and all that, if you don't mind what I say?
Tom Brown at Rugby
Thomas Hughes
Don't let the Mater and Pater get the wind up about my personal safety.
War Letters of a Public-School Boy
Paul Jones.

British Dictionary definitions for pater

pater

noun

British mainly facetious a public school slang word for father

Word Origin for pater

from Latin

Pater

noun

Walter (Horatio). 1839–94, English essayist and critic, noted for his prose style and his advocation of the "love of art for its own sake". His works include the philosophical romance Marius the Epicurean (1885), Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873), and Imaginary Portraits (1887)

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