Library / English Dictionary

FATHER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

God when considered as the first person in the Trinity

Example:

hear our prayers, Heavenly Father

Synonyms:

Father; Father-God; Fatherhood

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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 2

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

Synonyms:

Church Father; Father; Father of the Church

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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 3

Meaning:

The head of an organized crime family

Synonyms:

don; father

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Example:

his father was born in Atlanta

Synonyms:

begetter; father; male parent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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 5

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

Synonyms:

Father; Padre

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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 6

Meaning:

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

Example:

the city fathers endorsed the proposal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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

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

Sense 7

Meaning:

The founder of a family

Example:

keep the faith of our forefathers

Synonyms:

father; forefather; sire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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 8

Meaning:

A person who founds or establishes some institution

Example:

George Washington is the father of his country

Synonyms:

beginner; father; founder; founding father

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make (offspring) by reproduction

Example:

John fathered four daughters

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

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))

Credits

 Context examples: 

The study is the first to examine the influence of both mothers’ and fathers’ wellbeing before and after birth on children’s adjustment at 14 and 24 months of age.

(Prenatal parental stress linked to behaviour problems in toddlers, University of Cambridge)

The sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle.

(Aunt, NCI Thesaurus)

Children of obese fathers were 75 percent more likely to fail the test’s personal-social domain — an indicator of how well they were able to relate to and interact with others by age 3.

(Parental obesity linked to delays in child development, National Institutes of Health)

The researchers also noted the girl's father, though Denisovan, had a trace of Neanderthal DNA, from perhaps as much as several hundred generations earlier.

(Fossil genome shows hybrid of two extinct species of human, Wikinews)

And as to my father, I really should not have thought that he, who has kept himself single so long for our sakes, need be suspected now.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

When I grew up, I too became a woodchopper, and after my father died I took care of my old mother as long as she lived.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

My father's eyes had closed upon the light of this world six months, when mine opened on it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I had stood on my father’s legs.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The father was away in search of his son.

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

Moklan is my son, wherefore he is brave man— "Was not my father brave man?" Zilla demanded.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)