padre

Etymology

From Italian padre, Spanish padre, Portuguese padre (“priest”), from Latin pater (“father”). Doublet of ayr, faeder, father, pater, and père.

noun

1. A military clergyman.
2. A Roman Catholic or Anglican priest.
   The Zuma and Manzo Indians of the area were in the habit of going to the missions in the Spanish provinces below the Rio Grande River to solicit the padres to come to teach and baptize them in their villages. 1979, James Wakefield Burke, A Forgotten Glory: the Missions of Old Texas, Waco, TX: Texian Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 62