I. ˈfä-thər noun
Etymology: Middle English fader, from Old English fæder; akin to Old High German fater father, Latin pater, Greek patēr
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. : a man who has begotten a child ; also : sire 3
b. capitalized
(1) : god 1
(2) : the first person of the Trinity
2. : forefather
3.
a. : one related to another in a way suggesting that of father to child
b. : an old man — used as a respectful form of address
4. often capitalized : a pre-Scholastic Christian writer accepted by the church as an authoritative witness to its teaching and practice — called also church father
5.
a. : one that originates or institutes
the father of modern science
b. : source
the sun, the father of warmth and light — Lena M. Whitney
c. : prototype
6. : a priest of the regular clergy ; broadly : priest — used especially as a title
7. : one of the leading men (as of a city) — usually used in plural
• fa·ther·hood -ˌhu̇d noun
• fa·ther·less -ləs adjective
• fa·ther·like -ˌlīk adjective or adverb
II. verb
( fa·thered ; fa·ther·ing ˈfäth-riŋ, ˈfä-thə-)
Date: 15th century
transitive verb
1.
a. : beget
b. : to be the founder, producer, or author of
father ed the improvement plan
c. : to accept responsibility for
2.
a. : to fix the paternity or origin of
b. : to place responsibility for the origin or cause of
collected gossip and father ed it on responsible men — J. A. Williamson
3. : foist , impose
intransitive verb
: to care for or look after someone as a father might