father

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.

noun

1. A (generally human) male who begets a child.
   My father was a strong influence on me.
   My friend Tony just became a father.
   My personal success or failure is insignificant; the rise or fall of the nation is my responsibility and must not be shirked. Upon introspection, I feel I am firmer than ever in confidence that the Communists will be defeated. These are feelings which will comfort Father's soul in Heaven. August 01, 1980 [1 May 1980], Ching-kuo Chiang, “President Chiang Ching-kuo continues his period of mourning and finds that visits to countryside and people give him renewed strength”, in Taiwan Today, archived from the original on 2020-05-17
   Father, dear father Will you be proud of me? I wish I could be Just like you. Apr 7 2010, “My First Borrowing”, in Cécile Corbel (lyrics), Cécile Corbel and Simon Caby (music), 借りぐらし Kari-gurashi (CD), performed by Cécile Corbel, Yamaha Music Communications
   Shepard: The bartender over there? Liara: The matriarch hired by the asari government to track my movements? Shepard: She's your father. Liara: I know. 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Apollo Cafe, Presidium Commons, Citadel
2. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor.
3. A term of respectful address for an elderly man.
   Come, father; you can sit here.
4. A term of respectful address for a priest.
5. A person who plays the role of a father in some way.
   My brother was a father to me after my parents got divorced.
   The child is father to the man.
6. The founder of a discipline or science.
   Albert Einstein is the father of modern physics.
7. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.
   Soon after the announcement of this year's election results, Mereka said that "the father of all battles had just begun." His dispute with Muite goes back to March last year […] 1991, The Nairobi Law Monthly
   If UK GDP slows by 1 per cent, there is the mother and father of all recessions. It was exciting, but very bizarre, working in such an environment. 2002, Financial Management
   “The Father of All Battles” On March 23, 1991, a band of armed insurgents attacked the town of Bomaru […] 2012, Zubairu Wai, Epistemologies of African Conflicts: Violence, Evolutionism, and the War in Sierra Leone, Palgrave Macmillan, page 93
8. Something inanimate that begets.
   But may the Sun and gentle weather, / When you are both growne ripe together, / Load you with fruit, such as your Father / From you with all the joyes doth gather: / And may you when one branch is dead / Graft ſuch another in it's ſtead,[…] 1649, Richard Lovelace, Amyntor's Grove, His Chloris, Arigo, and Gratiana. An Elogie., Thomas Harper, page 88
9. (Christianity) A member of a church council.
   In proceeding in this fashion, the fathers assembled at Pisa were following the generally accepted canonistic teaching of the day […] 2003, Francis Oakley, The Conciliarist Tradition: Constitutionalism in the Catholic Church, 1300–1870, pages 37–8
   On the part of the fathers of the synod, over 50 bishops, from every continent, spoke on different ‘group forms’ of the lay apostolate, whereas about 38 fathers made their own interventions in writing to the General Secretary. 2009, Peter Chidi Okuma, Empowerment of the Catholic Laity in the Nigerian Political Situation[…], page 177
   Remember that the fathers of Vatican II had rejected the first draft of the constitution on revelation entirely. 2014, Ronald D. Witherup, The Word of God at Vatican II: Exploring Dei Verbum, page 31
10. (computing) The archived older version of a file that immediately precedes the current version, and was itself derived from the grandfather.
    Three generations of file are usually kept, being the grandfather, father and son files. 2004, Ray Bradley, The Ultimate Computing Glossary for Advanced Level, page 31
    The file from which the father was developed with the transaction files of the appropriate day is the grandfather. 2007, O. Ray Whittington, Patrick R. Delaney, Wiley CPA Exam Review 2008: Auditing and Attestation, page 556

verb

1. To be a father to; to sire.
2. (figurative) To give rise to.
3. To act as a father; to support and nurture.
4. To provide with a father.
   The relations of the sexes were so loose and vague that children could not be fathered on any particular man. 1906, James George Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, volume 2, page 209
5. To adopt as one's own.
   Kept company with men of wit / Who often fathered what he writ. 1713, Imitation of Horace, Jonathan Swift, Book I. Ep. VII