FATHER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Father mean? 

• FATHER (noun)
  The noun FATHER has 8 senses:

1. a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)

2. the founder of a family

3. 'Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); 'Padre' is frequently used in the military

4. (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became Doctor of the Church; the best known Latin Church Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom

5. a person who holds an important or distinguished position in some organization

6. God when considered as the first person in the Trinity

7. a person who founds or establishes some institution

8. the head of an organized crime family

  Familiarity information: FATHER used as a noun is common.

• FATHER (verb)
  The verb FATHER has 1 sense:

1. make (offspring) by reproduction

  Familiarity information: FATHER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FATHER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

begetter; father; male parent

Context example:

his father was born in Atlanta

Hypernyms ("father" is a kind of...):

parent (a father or mother; one who begets or one who gives birth to or nurtures and raises a child; a relative who plays the role of guardian)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "father"):

dad; dada; daddy; pa; papa; pappa; pop (an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk)

father-in-law (the father of your spouse)

old man (an informal term for your father)

pater (an informal use of the Latin word for father; sometimes used by British schoolboys or used facetiously)

Antonym:

mother (a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother))

Derivation:

father (make (offspring) by reproduction)

fatherly (like or befitting a father or fatherhood; kind and protective)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The founder of a family

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

father; forefather; sire

Context example:

keep the faith of our forefathers

Hypernyms ("father" is a kind of...):

ancestor; antecedent; ascendant; ascendent; root (someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "father"):

patriarch (any of the early biblical characters regarded as fathers of the human race)

Sense 3

Meaning:

'Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); 'Padre' is frequently used in the military

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Father; Padre

Hypernyms ("Father" is a kind of...):

form of address; title; title of respect (an identifying appellation signifying status or function: e.g. 'Mr.' or 'General')

priest (a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became Doctor of the Church; the best known Latin Church Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Church Father; Father; Father of the Church

Hypernyms ("Father" is a kind of...):

theologian; theologiser; theologist; theologizer (someone who is learned in theology or who speculates about theology)

Domain category:

Christian religion; Christianity (a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior)

Instance hyponyms:

Ambrose; Saint Ambrose; St. Ambrose ((Roman Catholic Church) Roman priest who became bishop of Milan; the first Church Father born and raised in the Christian faith; composer of hymns; imposed orthodoxy on the early Christian church and built up its secular power; a saint and Doctor of the Church (340?-397))

Athanasius; Athanasius the Great; Saint Athanasius; St. Athanasius ((Roman Catholic Church) Greek patriarch of Alexandria who championed Christian orthodoxy against Arianism; a church father, saint, and Doctor of the Church (293-373))

Augustine; Augustine of Hippo; Saint Augustine; St. Augustine ((Roman Catholic Church) one of the great Fathers of the early Christian church; after a dramatic conversion to Christianity he became bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa; St. Augustine emphasized man's need for grace (354-430))

Basil; Basil of Caesarea; Basil the Great; St. Basil; St. Basil the Great ((Roman Catholic Church) the bishop of Caesarea who defended the Roman Catholic Church against the heresies of the 4th century; a saint and Doctor of the Church (329-379))

Gregory; Gregory Nazianzen; Gregory of Nazianzen; St. Gregory of Nazianzen ((Roman Catholic Church) a church father known for his constant fight against perceived heresies; a saint and Doctor of the Church (329-391))

Irenaeus; Saint Irenaeus; St. Irenaeus (Greek theologian who was bishop of Lyons and an antiheretical writer; a saint and Doctor of the Church (circa 130-200))

Eusebius Hieronymus; Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Hieronymus; Jerome; Saint Jerome; St. Jerome ((Roman Catholic Church) one of the great Fathers of the early Christian Church whose major work was his translation of the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (which became the Vulgate); a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-420))

John Chrysostom; St. John Chrysostom ((Roman Catholic Church) a Church Father who was a great preacher and bishop of Constantinople; a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-407))

Sense 5

Meaning:

A person who holds an important or distinguished position in some organization

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the city fathers endorsed the proposal

Hypernyms ("father" is a kind of...):

leader (a person who rules or guides or inspires others)

Sense 6

Meaning:

God when considered as the first person in the Trinity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Father; Father-God; Fatherhood

Context example:

hear our prayers, Heavenly Father

Instance hypernyms:

hypostasis; hypostasis of Christ (any of the three persons of the Godhead constituting the Trinity especially the person of Christ in which divine and human natures are united)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A person who founds or establishes some institution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

beginner; father; founder; founding father

Context example:

George Washington is the father of his country

Hypernyms ("father" is a kind of...):

conceiver; mastermind; originator (someone who creates new things)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "father"):

cofounder (one of a group of founders)

coloniser; colonizer (someone who helps to found a colony)

foundress (a woman founder)

Sense 8

Meaning:

The head of an organized crime family

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

don; father

Hypernyms ("father" is a kind of...):

chief; head; top dog (a person who is in charge)

• FATHER (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make (offspring) by reproduction

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

beget; bring forth; engender; father; generate; get; mother; sire

Context example:

John fathered four daughters

Hypernyms (to "father" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

father (a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father))

 Context examples 

I dislike Mr. Davis's manner of teaching and don't think the girls you associate with are doing you any good, so I shall ask your father's advice before I send you anywhere else.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"Their heritage must be clean, and he is, I am afraid, not clean. Your father has told me of sailors' lives, and—and you understand."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Alternatively, you may have a concern about your mother or father or another member of your immediate family.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire: I was the third of five sons.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Both from his father, the wolf, and from Kiche, he had inherited stature and strength, and already he was measuring up alongside the full-grown dogs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

His father and his mother asked me to see you, for the mere mention of the subject is very painful to them.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Father lets us stay here. We are getting our house ready," said Gladys.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I suppose you are an orphan: are not either your father or your mother dead?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Never mind that, father, said Tom; if my mother will only harness the horse, I will get into his ear and tell him which way to go.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Well, you know father didn’t like anything of the sort.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)