father

== English == === Etymology === Inherited from Middle English fader. Doublet of ayr, faeder, athair, 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'thər, IPA(key): /ˈfɒːðɚ/ (Central New England) enPR: fä'thər, IPA(key): /ˈfɔðɚ/ (India) enPR: fä'thə(r) IPA(key): /ˈfɑːd̪ə(r)/ (Geordie, else obsolete) enPR: făthə(r) IPA(key): /ˈfæðə(ɹ)/ (obsolete) enPR: fāthə(r), IPA(key): /ˈfeɪðəɹ/ Homophone: farther (most non-rhotic accents) Hyphenation: fa‧ther Rhymes: -ɑːðə(ɹ) The development of the /ɑː/ vowel (outside of those accents which also have it in rather, lather) is irregular and has not been conclusively explained. === Noun === father (plural fathers) A male parent, especially of a human; a male who parents a child (which he has sired, adopted, fostered, taken as his own, etc.). A male who has sired a baby; this person in relation to his child or children. 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. ==== Derived terms ==== fatherer ==== Translations ==== === See also === beget grandpa pater paternal sire === References === === Anagrams === Hafter, afther, trefah, hafter, fareth == Middle English == === Noun === father (Late Middle English) alternative form of fader == Scots == === Noun === father alternative form of faither === References === “father, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.