Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Father?

\Fa"ther\, n. [OE. fader, AS. f[ae]der; akin to OS. fadar, D. vader, OHG. fatar, G. vater, Icel. Fa?ir Sw. & Dan. fader, OIr. athir, L. pater, Gr. ?????, Skr. pitr, perh. fr. Skr. p[=a] protect. ???,???. Cf. {Papa}, {Paternal}, {Patriot}, {Potential}, {Pablum}.] 1. One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent. A wise son maketh a glad father. --Prov. x. 1. 2. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or family; -- in the plural, fathers, ancestors. David slept with his fathers. --1 Kings ii. 10. Abraham, who is the father of us all. --Rom. iv. 16. 3. One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection. I was a father to the poor. --Job xxix. 16. He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house. --Gen. xiv. 8. 4. A respectful mode of address to an old man. And Joash the king og Israel came down unto him [Elisha], . . . and said, O my father, my father! --2 Kings xiii. 14. 5. A senator of ancient Rome. 6. A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a confessor (called also {father confessor}), or a priest; also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a legislative assembly, etc. Bless you, good father friar ! --Shak. 7. One of the chief esslesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; -- often spoken of collectively as the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers. 8. One who, or that which, gives origin; an originator; a producer, author, or contriver; the first to practice any art, profession, or occupation; a distinguished example or teacher. The father of all such as handle the harp and organ. --Gen. iv. 21. Might be the father, Harry, to that thought. --Shak. The father of good news. --Shak. 9. The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first person in the Trinity. Our Father, which art in heaven. --Matt. vi. 9. Now had the almighty Father from above . . . Bent down his eye. --Milton. {Adoptive father}, one who adopts the child of another, treating it as his own. {Apostolic father}, {Conscript fathers, etc.} See under {Apostolic}, {Conscript}, etc. {Father in God}, a title given to bishops. {Father of lies}, the Devil. {Father of the bar}, the oldest practitioner at the bar. {Fathers of the city}, the aldermen. {Father of the Faithful}. (a) Abraham. --Rom. iv. --Gal. iii. 6-9. (b) Mohammed, or one of the sultans, his successors. {Father of the house}, the member of a legislative body who has had the longest continuous service. {Most Reverend Father in God}, a title given to archbishops and metropolitans, as to the archbishops of Canterbury and York. {Natural father}, the father of an illegitimate child. {Putative father}, one who is presumed to be the father of an illegitimate child; the supposed father. {Spiritual father}. (a) A religious teacher or guide, esp. one instrumental in leading a soul to God. (b) (R. C. Ch.) A priest who hears confession in the sacrament of penance. {The Holy Father} (R. C. Ch.), the pope.
\Fa"ther\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fathered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Fathering}.] 1. To make one's self the father of; to beget. Cowards father cowards, and base things sire base. --Shak. 2. To take as one's own child; to adopt; hence, to assume as one's own work; to acknowledge one's self author of or responsible for (a statement, policy, etc.). Men of wit Often fathered what he writ. --Swift. 3. To provide with a father. [R.] Think you I am no stronger than my sex, Being so fathered and so husbanded ? --Shak. {To father on} or {upon}, to ascribe to, or charge upon, as one's offspring or work; to put or lay upon as being responsible. ``Nothing can be so uncouth or extravagant, which may not be fathered on some fetch of wit, or some caprice of humor.'' --Barrow.