Word Study
father
CIDE DICTIONARY
father, n. [OE. fader, AS. fæder; akin to OS. fadar, D. vader, OHG. fatar, G. vater, Icel. fa Sw. & Dan. fader, OIr. athir, L. pater, Gr. path`r, Skr. pitr, perh. fr. Skr. pā protect. Papa, Paternal, Patriot, Potential, Pablum.].
- One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent. [1913 Webster]"A wise son maketh a glad father." [1913 Webster]
- A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or family; -- in the plural, fathers, ancestors. [1913 Webster]"David slept with his fathers." [1913 Webster]"Abraham, who is the father of us all." [1913 Webster]
- One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection. [1913 Webster]"I was a father to the poor." [1913 Webster]"He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house." [1913 Webster]
- A respectful mode of address to an old man. [1913 Webster]"And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him [Elisha], . . . and said, O my father, my father!" [1913 Webster]
- A senator of ancient Rome. [1913 Webster]
- A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a confessor (called also
father confessor ), or a priest; also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a legislative assembly, etc. [1913 Webster]"Bless you, good father friar !" [1913 Webster] - One of the chief ecclesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; -- often spoken of collectively as the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers. [1913 Webster]
- One who, or that which, gives origin; an originator; a producer, author, or contriver; the first to practice any art, profession, or occupation; a distinguished example or teacher. [1913 Webster]"The father of all such as handle the harp and organ." [1913 Webster]"Might be the father, Harry, to that thought." [1913 Webster]"The father of good news." [1913 Webster]
- The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first person in the Trinity. [1913 Webster]"Our Father, which art in heaven." [1913 Webster]"Now had the almighty Father from above . . .
Bent down his eye." [1913 Webster]
father, v. t.
- To make one's self the father of; to beget. [1913 Webster]"Cowards father cowards, and base things sire base." [1913 Webster]
- To take as one's own child; to adopt; hence, to assume as one's own work; to acknowledge one's self author of or responsible for (a statement, policy, etc.). [1913 Webster]"Men of wit
Often fathered what he writ." [1913 Webster] - To provide with a father. [1913 Webster]"Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so fathered and so husbanded ?" [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
father, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a man in relation to a child or children born from his fertilization of an ovum. b (in full adoptive father) a man who has continuous care of a child, esp. by adoption.
2 any male animal in relation to its offspring.
3 (usu. in pl.) a progenitor or forefather.
4 an originator, designer, or early leader.
5 a person who deserves special respect (the father of his country).
6 (Fathers or Fathers of the Church) early Christian theologians whose writings are regarded as especially authoritative.
7 (also Father) a (often as a title or form of address) a priest, esp. of a religious order. b a religious leader.
8 (the Father) (in Christian belief) the first person of the Trinity.
9 (Father) a venerable person, esp. as a title in personifications (Father Time).
10 the oldest member or doyen (Father of the House).
11 (usu. in pl.) the leading men or elders in a city or State (city fathers).
--v.tr.
1 beget; be the father of.
2 behave as a father towards.
3 originate (a scheme etc.).
4 appear as or admit that one is the father or originator of.
5 (foll. by on) assign the paternity of (a child, book) to a person.
--n.
1 a a man in relation to a child or children born from his fertilization of an ovum. b (in full adoptive father) a man who has continuous care of a child, esp. by adoption.
2 any male animal in relation to its offspring.
3 (usu. in pl.) a progenitor or forefather.
4 an originator, designer, or early leader.
5 a person who deserves special respect (the father of his country).
6 (Fathers or Fathers of the Church) early Christian theologians whose writings are regarded as especially authoritative.
7 (also Father) a (often as a title or form of address) a priest, esp. of a religious order. b a religious leader.
8 (the Father) (in Christian belief) the first person of the Trinity.
9 (Father) a venerable person, esp. as a title in personifications (Father Time).
10 the oldest member or doyen (Father of the House).
11 (usu. in pl.) the leading men or elders in a city or State (city fathers).
--v.tr.
1 beget; be the father of.
2 behave as a father towards.
3 originate (a scheme etc.).
4 appear as or admit that one is the father or originator of.
5 (foll. by on) assign the paternity of (a child, book) to a person.
Idiom
father-figure an older man who is respected like a father; a trusted leader. father-in-law (pl. fathers-in-law) the father of one's husband or wife. father of chapel see CHAPEL. Father's Day a day (usu. the third Sunday in June) established for a special tribute to fathers. Father Time see TIME.
Derivative
fatherhood n. fatherless adj. fatherlessness n. fatherlike adj. & adv. fathership n.
Etymology
OE f{aelig}der with many Gmc cognates: rel. to L pater, Gk pater
THESAURUS
father
Ambrose of Milan, Athanasius, Barnabas, Basil, Brother, Clement of Alexandria, Clement of Rome, Cyprian of Carthage, Cyril of Jerusalem, Dom, Gregory of Nyssa, Hermas, His Grace, His Holiness, His Reverence, Holiness, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Jerome, John, John Chrysostom, Justin Martyr, Lactantius Firmianus, Luke, Mark, Monsignor, Mother, Origen, Papias, Paul, Peter, Polycarp, Rabbi, Sister, Tertullian, ante-Nicene Fathers, apostle, disciple, evangelist, saintROGET THESAURUS
father
Age
N age, oldness, old age, advanced age, golden years, senility, senescence, years, anility, gray hairs, climacteric, grand climacteric, declining years, decrepitude, hoary age, caducity, superannuation, second childhood, second childishness, dotage, vale of years, decline of life, sear and yellow leaf, threescore years and ten, green old age, ripe age, longevity, time of life, seniority, eldership, elders, firstling, doyen, father, primogeniture, geriatrics, nostology, aged, old, elderly, geriatric, senile, matronly, anile, in years, ripe, mellow, run to seed, declining, waning, past one's prime, gray, gray-headed, hoar, hoary, venerable, time-worn, antiquated, passe, effete, decrepit, superannuated, advanced in life, advanced in years, stricken in years, wrinkled, marked withthe crow's foot, having one foot in the grave, doting, like the last of pea time, older, elder, eldest, senior, firstborn, turned of, years old, of a certain age, no chicken, old as Methuselah, ancestral, patriarchal, gerontic, give me a staff of honor for my age, bis pueri senes, peu de gens savent elre vieux, plenus annis abiit plenus honoribus, old age is creeping on apace, slow-consuming age, the hoary head is a crown of glory, the silver livery of advised age, to grow old gracefully, to vanish in the chinks that Time has made.Paternity
N paternity, parentage, consanguinity, parent, father, sire, dad, papa, paterfamilias, abba, genitor, progenitor, procreator, ancestor, grandsire, grandfather, great- grandfather, fathership, fatherhood, mabap, house, stem, trunk, tree, stock, stirps, pedigree, lineage, line, family, tribe, sept, race, clan, genealogy, descent, extraction, birth, ancestry, forefathers, forbears, patriarchs, motherhood, maternity, mother, dam, mamma, materfamilias, grandmother, paternal, parental, maternal, family, ancestral, linear, patriarchal, avi numerantur avorum, happy he with such a mother, hombre bueno no le busquen abolengo, philosophia stemma non inspicit.Clergy
N clergy, clericals, ministry, priesthood, presbytery, the cloth, the desk, clergyman, divine, ecclesiastic, churchman, priest, presbyter, hierophant, pastor, shepherd, minister, father, father in Christ, padre, abbe, cure, patriarch, reverend, black coat, confessor, dignitaries of the church, ecclesiarch, hierarch, ebdomarius, eminence, reverence, elder, primate, metropolitan, archbishop, bishop, prelate, diocesan, suffragan, dean, subdean, archdeacon, prebendary, canon, rural dean, rector, parson, vicar, perpetual curate, residentiary, beneficiary, incumbent, chaplain, curate, deacon, deaconess, preacher, reader, lecturer, capitular, missionary, propagandist, Jesuit, revivalist, field preacher, churchwarden, sidesman, clerk, precentor, choir, almoner, suisse, verger, beadle, sexton, sacristan, acolyth, acolothyst, acolyte, altar boy, chorister, Pope, Papa, pontiff, high priest, cardinal, ancient flamen, flamen, confessor, penitentiary, spiritual director, cenobite, conventual, abbot, prior, monk, friar, lay brother, beadsman, mendicant, pilgrim, palmer, canon regular, canon secular, Franciscan, Friars minor, Minorites, Observant, Capuchin, Dominican, Carmelite, Augustinian, Gilbertine, Austin Friars, Black Friars, White Friars, Gray Friars, Crossed Friars, Crutched Friars, Bonhomme, Carthusian, Benedictine, Cistercian, Trappist, Cluniac, Premonstatensian, Maturine, Templar, Hospitaler, Bernardine, Lorettine, pillarist, stylite, abbess, prioress, canoness, religieuse, nun, novice, postulant, prophet, priest, high priest, Levite, Rabbi, Rabbin, Rebbe, scribe, mullah, muezzin, ayatollah, ulema, imaum, imam, sheik, sufi, kahin, kassis, mufti, hadji, dervish, fakir, faquir, brahmin, guru, kaziaskier, poonghie, sanyasi, druid, bonze, santon, abdal, Lama, talapoin, caloyer, the Reverend, the very Reverend, the Right Reverend, ordained, in orders, called to the ministry.For further exploring for "father" in Webster Dictionary Online
