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• pater
  pater

  noun

  father.
• Pater
  Pater

  noun

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

pater

¹ American  

[pey-ter, pat-er] / ˈpeɪ tər, ˈpæt ər /

noun

1. British Informal. father.

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

3. a recitation of it.

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Pater ² American  

[pey-ter] / ˈpeɪ tər /

noun

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

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Pater ¹ British  

/ ˈpeɪtə /

noun

1. 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)

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pater ² British  

/ ˈpeɪtə /

noun

1. facetious a public school slang word for father

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Etymology

Origin of pater

1300–50; Middle English < Latin: father

Example Sentences

For instance, we find closely matching terms in Latin with "pater," Sanskrit's "pitar" and in Greek with "patér" – all older languages that developed separately from the Germanic line.

From Salon • Jun. 18, 2022

They serve without any accountability, except to pater familias.

From The Guardian • Mar. 6, 2018

Yet critics maintain that the Packers have betrayed not only the country but also the pater familias of football: legendary Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi.

From Slate • Sep. 30, 2017

Cosby set Constand up on a meeting with Lou Weiss, a pater familias of the old WMA who retired in 2007.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2017

Annabeth realized with a sinking feeling what the pater was talking about: the thing in the dark from Percy’s dream, the guardian of the shrine.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan