English Online Dictionary. What means father? What does father mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English fader, from Old English fæder, from Proto-West Germanic *fader, from Proto-Germanic *fadēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr. Doublet of ayr, faeder, padre, pater, and père.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: fä'thə(r), IPA(key): /ˈfɑːðə(ɹ)/
- (General American) enPR: fä'thər, IPA(key): /ˈfɑðɚ/
- (General Australian) enPR: fä'thə, IPA(key): /ˈfɐːðə/
- (Ireland, Canada, California, Western Pennsylvania, older New York City) enPR: fä'thə, IPA(key): /ˈfɒːðɚ/
- (Indian) enPR: făthə(r) IPA(key): /ˈfɑːd̪ə(r)/
- (Geordie) enPR: făthə IPA(key): /ˈfæðə/
- (obsolete) enPR: făthər, fāthər, IPA(key): /ˈfæðəɹ/, /ˈfeɪðəɹ/
- Homophone: farther (in non-rhotic accents)
- Hyphenation: fa‧ther
- Rhymes: -ɑːðə(ɹ)
Noun
father (plural fathers)
- A (generally human) male who begets a child.
- A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor.
- A term of respectful address for an elderly man.
- A term of respectful address for a priest.
- A person who plays the role of a father in some way.
- A pioneering figure in a particular field.
- Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.
- Something inanimate that begets.
- (Christianity) A member of a church council.
- (computing) The archived older version of a file that immediately precedes the current version, and was itself derived from the grandfather.
Synonyms
- (parent): see Thesaurus:father
- (most significant thing): see mother and granddaddy
Antonyms
- (with regards to gender) mother
- (with regards to ancestry) son, daughter, child
Hypernyms
- (a male parent): parent
Derived terms
Related terms
- Father
- Jupiter
- paternal
Translations
Verb
father (third-person singular simple present fathers, present participle fathering, simple past and past participle fathered)
- To be a father to; to sire.
- (figuratively) To give rise to.
- To act as a father; to support and nurture.
- To provide with a father.
- To adopt as one's own.
Translations
See also
- beget
- grandpa
- pater
- paternal
- sire
References
Anagrams
- afther, fareth, hafter, trefah
Middle English
Noun
father
- (Late Middle English) Alternative form of fader