Meaning of "father" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD FATHER

Old English fæder; related to Old Norse fathir, Old Frisian feder, Old High German fater, Latin pater, Greek patēr, Sanskrit pitr.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF FATHER

father  [ˈfɑːðə]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF FATHER

Father is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb father in English.

WHAT DOES FATHER MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Father

A father is a male parent who has raised a child, supplied the sperm through sexual intercourse or sperm donation which grew into a child, and/or donated a body cell which resulted in a clone. The adjective "paternal" refers to a father and comparatively to "maternal" for a mother. The verb "to father" means to procreate or to sire a child from which also derives the noun "fathering". Fathers determine the sex of their child through a sperm cell which either contains an X chromosome, or Y chromosome. Related terms of endearment are dad, daddy, pa, papa, poppa, pop, and pops. A male role-model that children can look up to is sometimes referred to as a father-figure.

Definition of father in the English dictionary

The first definition of father in the dictionary is a male parent. Other definition of father is a person who founds a line or family; forefather. Father is also any male acting in a paternal capacity related adjective paternal.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO FATHER

PRESENT

Present

I father

you father

he/she/it fathers

we father

you father

they father

Present continuous

I am fathering

you are fathering

he/she/it is fathering

we are fathering

you are fathering

they are fathering

Present perfect

I have fathered

you have fathered

he/she/it has fathered

we have fathered

you have fathered

they have fathered

Present perfect continuous

I have been fathering

you have been fathering

he/she/it has been fathering

we have been fathering

you have been fathering

they have been fathering

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I fathered

you fathered

he/she/it fathered

we fathered

you fathered

they fathered

Past continuous

I was fathering

you were fathering

he/she/it was fathering

we were fathering

you were fathering

they were fathering

Past perfect

I had fathered

you had fathered

he/she/it had fathered

we had fathered

you had fathered

they had fathered

Past perfect continuous

I had been fathering

you had been fathering

he/she/it had been fathering

we had been fathering

you had been fathering

they had been fathering

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will father

you will father

he/she/it will father

we will father

you will father

they will father

Future continuous

I will be fathering

you will be fathering

he/she/it will be fathering

we will be fathering

you will be fathering

they will be fathering

Future perfect

I will have fathered

you will have fathered

he/she/it will have fathered

we will have fathered

you will have fathered

they will have fathered

Future perfect continuous

I will have been fathering

you will have been fathering

he/she/it will have been fathering

we will have been fathering

you will have been fathering

they will have been fathering

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would father

you would father

he/she/it would father

we would father

you would father

they would father

Conditional continuous

I would be fathering

you would be fathering

he/she/it would be fathering

we would be fathering

you would be fathering

they would be fathering

Conditional perfect

I would have father

you would have father

he/she/it would have father

we would have father

you would have father

they would have father

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been fathering

you would have been fathering

he/she/it would have been fathering

we would have been fathering

you would have been fathering

they would have been fathering

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you father
we let´s father
you father

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to father

Past participle

fathered

Present Participle

fathering

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «FATHER»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «father» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of father

ancestor · architect · author · beget · begetter · biological father · birth father · churchman · city father · cleric · conceive · confessor · create · creator · dad · daddy · elder · engender · establish · forebear · forefather · foster father · found · founder · get · governor · initiator · institute · invent · inventor · kaumatua · leader · maker · man of God · minister · old boy · old man · originate · originator · pa · padre · papa · parent · parson · pastor · pater · paterfamilias · patriarch · patron · pop · predecessor · priest · prime mover · procreate · progenitor · senator · sire · vicar

TRANSLATION OF FATHER

Find out the translation of father to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of father from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «father» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 父亲
• Translator English - Spanish: padre
• English: father
• Translator English - Hindi: पिता
• Translator English - Arabic: أَب
• Translator English - Russian: отец
• Translator English - Portuguese: pai
• Translator English - Bengali: পিতা
• Translator English - French: père
• Translator English - Malay: Bapa
• Translator English - German: Vater
• Translator English - Japanese: 父
• Translator English - Korean: 아버지
• Translator English - Javanese: Bapak
• Translator English - Vietnamese: bố
• Translator English - Tamil: அப்பா
• Translator English - Marathi: वडील
• Translator English - Turkish: baba
• Translator English - Italian: padre
• Translator English - Polish: ojciec
• Translator English - Ukrainian: батько
• Translator English - Romanian: tată
• Translator English - Greek: πατέρας
• Translator English - Afrikaans: vader
• Translator English - Swedish: far
• Translator English - Norwegian: far

10 QUOTES WITH «FATHER»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word father.

1

Scott Anderson

My father suffered from chronic wanderlust. When I was 14, he set out on a yearlong road trip across Europe and Asia - and decided to take me along for company.

2

Criss Angel

Oprah is signed on to help, and a lot of celebrity friends have agreed to help me raise money for Make-A-Wish. We want to make the world a better place for innocent children. I cried my heart out when my father died from cancer. I wish I was smarter, wiser like a doctor, to save these children from dying.

3

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen

My giving story started with my parents - my late mother, Frances Arrillaga, who dedicated her life to philanthropic and community service, and my father, John Arrillaga, whose daily generosity of heart, mind, and hands-on contributions make him one of the most extraordinary philanthropists I know.

4

Charles M. Blow

My father was short for a man, with a child's plaything for a name - Spinner. He had flawless dark brown skin and a head full of big, wet-looking curls, black as oil. And he had the smile of a scoundrel - the kind of smile that disarmed men and undressed women.

5

Lizzie Andrew Borden

Maggie went out of doors to wash the windows and father came out into the kitchen and said he did not know whether he would go down to the post office or not. And then I sprinkled some handkerchiefs to iron.

6

Beau Bridges

Dylan, myself and my father were in a two hour movie called The Sand Kings, which started off the Outer Limits series. It was sort of the two hour pilot movie.

7

Gordon Brown

I'm a father; that's what matters most. Nothing matters more.

8

Angela Carter

Aeneas carried his aged father on his back from the ruins of Troy and so do we all, whether we like it or not, perhaps even if we have never known them.

9

Chris Cleave

I'm a much better writer for being a father.

10

Ray Conniff

I tell my friends about my conversations with my father - conversations with an artist.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «FATHER»

Discover the use of father in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to father and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Pictured in righthand photograph on cover: Stanley Dunham and Ann Dunham (President Obama's maternal grandfather and his mother as a young girl). From the Trade Paperback edition.

Barack Obama, 2007

Renoir: My Father

In this delightful memoir, Jean Renoir, the director of such masterpieces of the cinema as Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game, tells the life story of his father, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the great Impressionist painter.

Jean Renoir, 2001

The Role of the Father in Child Development

This classic guide offers a single-source reference for the most recent findings and beliefs related to fathers and fatherhood.

Michael E. Lamb, 2010

The Distant Land of My Father

With the intensity and appeal of When We Were Orphans, also set in Shanghai at the same time, The Distant Land of My Father tells a moving and unforgettable story about a most unusual father-daughter relationship.

Bo Caldwell, 2011

Handbook of Father Involvement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives

This second edition reviews the new research findings and theoretical advances on fathers, families, child development, programs, and policies that have occurred in the past decade.

Natasha J. Cabrera, Catherine Susan Tamis-LeMonda, 2013

Letter to my Father

This letter is the closest that Kafka came to setting down his autobiography. He was driven to write it by his father's opposition to his engagement with Julie Wohryzek. The marriage did not take place; the letter was not delivered.

Franz Kafka, Howard Colyer, 2008

A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball

This book is a revealing, personal story of one of America's top athletes, but it is also a call to action—from a man who had to fight to be in his children's lives—that will show mothers and fathers how to step up and be parents ...

Dwyane Wade, 2012

Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation

Beyond God the Father is a Beacon Press publication.

Mary Daly, 1985

The Sins of the Father

On the heels of the international bestseller Only Time Will Tell, Jeffrey Archer picks up the sweeping story of the Clifton Chronicles….

Jeffrey Archer, 2012

Experiencing Father's Embrace

The author's style of writing makes this book easy to read, yet it is one of the most thorough and profoundly impacting books available on knowing God as a Father.

Jack Frost, 2006

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «FATHER»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term father is used in the context of the following news items.

Judge Sends Kids to Juvie for Refusing Lunch with Father

DETROIT, Mich. — A Michigan judge sent three children to juvenile detention for refusing to have lunch or talk to their father after chastising ... «WSPA.com, Jul 15»

Dad receives Father's Day card from son who died of AIDS 20 years …

An 87-year-old man from Virginia has called a Father's Day card sent by his son “a sign from heaven” after it arrived in his mailbox this year ... «The Independent, Jul 15»

Father Takes Blame After 12-Year-Old Arrested in Connection With …

The imprisoned father of two boys charged in connection with a deadly shooting in Omaha, Nebraska, says he shoulders the blame for his ... «ABC News, Jul 15»

Donald Trump to meet in Los Angeles with father of football player …

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is planning to meet today with the father of a Los Angeles high school football player killed by ... «LA Daily News, Jul 15»

Mother found guilty, father not guilty of baby's death in hot car

The baby's father, 32-year-old Israel Soto, was acquitted of a child abuse charge. Deputy District Attorney Carlos Campbell said the infant was ... «fox5sandiego.com, Jul 15»

Patrick Dempsey spends a father-son outing with Darby at Malibu …

On Thursday, Patrick Dempsey was spotted spending some quality father-son bonding with his eight-year-old twin son Darby at a beach in ... «Daily Mail, Jul 15»

Euless father of slain child helps other grieving parents

Euless father of slain child helps other grieving parents .... Roberts said Father's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas are difficult. Every year, on ... «Fort Worth Star Telegram, Jul 15»

Father rescues boy after truck slams into Winnipeg store

A Winnipeg father is relieved he was able to pull his son to safety after a truck careened into a convenience store at such a high speed, ... «CTV News, Jul 15»

Jealous father jailed for murdering wife

A FATHER has been jailed for 18 years after murdering his estranged wife in the family home. Neil Winn, 50, lured Lisa Winn, 45, to the ... «North Devon Journal, Jul 15»

Drunken teen avoids jail for crashing his father's Audi (but has his …

A young man who crashed his father's £100,000 supercar in to a neighbour's house has escaped jail but has had his pocket money stopped. «Telegraph.co.uk, Jul 15»