fathern.

Brit.

/ˈfɑːðə/, U.S.

/ˈfɑðər/

Forms: early Old English feadur (Mercian, genitive), early Old English feadrum (Mercian, dative plural), early Old English feodrum (Mercian, dative plural), Old English fadero (Northumbrian, nominative plural), Old English fador (chiefly Northumbrian), Old English fadr- (non-West Saxon, inflected form), Old English fadur (Northumbrian, genitive), Old English fædær (inflected form, rare), Old English faeder (rare), Old English fædes (transmission error), Old English fædir (Northumbrian, dative), Old English faedor- (Northumbrian, inflected form), Old English fædor (Anglian), Old English fædr- (inflected form), Old English fædter (transmission error), Old English fædyr (rare), Old English fæðer (dative, perhaps transmission error), Old English feddr- (rare), Old English fęder, Old English fedr- (Mercian and Kentish), Old English fędr- (inflected form), Old English fedur (rare), Old English fadr- (non-West Saxon, inflected form), Old English–early Middle English fæder, Old English (rare)–early Middle English (chiefly south-west midlands) feder, Old English (rare) Middle English–1500s fader, late Old English fæðeres (genitive, perhaps transmission error), late Old English fieder (Kentish, inflected form), late Old English fedor- (inflected form), late Old English (early Middle English south-west midlands) feader, early Middle English fædeer (genitive, in copy of Old English charter, transmission error), early Middle English faðer (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English uæder (south-west midlands), early Middle English veder (south-west midlands), Middle English faddir, Middle English faddur, Middle English faddyr, Middle English fadere, Middle English faderr ( Ormulum), Middle English fadire, Middle English fadour, Middle English fadr- (inflected form), Middle English fadur, Middle English fadure, Middle English faduree, Middle English fadyre, Middle English faider, Middle English fathir, Middle English fathyr, Middle English faþer, Middle English fayder, Middle English fayer, Middle English ffadere, Middle English ffadur, Middle English ffadyr, Middle English uader, Middle English uadir, Middle English vadir, Middle English 1600s vader, Middle English–1500s ffader, Middle English–1600s fadir, Middle English–1600s fadyr, Middle English–1600s ffather, Middle English–1700s fadre, late Middle English fade (transmission error), late Middle English fadrie (transmission error), late Middle English– father, 1500s fathre, 1500s ffadir, 1500s ffayther, 1500s vather (south-western), 1500s–1600s fathere, 1500s–1600s fatther, 1600s feather, 1600s fother; English regional 1600s– vather (southern), 1700s veather (south-western), 1700s– fadder, 1800s– faather, 1800s– fader, 1800s– fadther (northern), 1800s– fadthre (northern), 1800s– faither, 1800s– fatther, 1800s– fayder (northern), 1800s– fayther, 1800s– feder (northern), 1800s– fether (northern), 1800s– fethur (northern), 1800s– feyther, 1800s– fiather (Wiltshire), 1800s– vaather (southern), 1900s faayther (Lincolnshire), 1900s– faader (southern), 2000s– faathur (south-western); U.S. regional 1800s– fader, 1800s– farruh (southern, in African-American usage), 1900s– farrah (southern, in African-American usage), 1900s– fayther; Scottish pre-1700 fadar, pre-1700 faddir, pre-1700 faddire, pre-1700 faddr- (inflected form), pre-1700 faddyr, pre-1700 faddyre, pre-1700 fadere, pre-1700 fadir, pre-1700 fadire, pre-1700 fadr- (inflected form), pre-1700 fadre, pre-1700 fadyr, pre-1700 fadyre, pre-1700 faiddir, pre-1700 fathar, pre-1700 fathir, pre-1700 fathyr, pre-1700 fathyre, pre-1700 fauder, pre-1700 faydyr, pre-1700 feather, pre-1700 feder, pre-1700 (1700s– northern) fader, pre-1700 1700s– father, pre-1700 (1800s– Shetland) faider, pre-1700 1800s– faither, pre-1700 (1900s– north-eastern) fadder, 1800s fether, 1800s feyther, 1800s– faeder (Shetland), 1800s– fedder (northern), 1900s– faader (Shetland), 1900s– fayder (northern), 1900s– feyder (northern); Irish English (Wexford) 1800s vather.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian fader , feder (West Frisian faar ), Old Dutch fadar , fader (Middle Dutch vāder , Dutch vader ), Old Saxon fadar , fader (Middle Low German vāder ), Old High German fater (Middle High German vater , German Vater ), early Scandinavian (runic: Sweden) faþiR , Old Icelandic faðir , Norn (Orkney) fa , (Shetland) fy (definite form fyrin ), Old Swedish faþir (Swedish fader , (now usually) far ), Old Danish fathær (Danish fader , (now usually) far ), Gothic fadar (in an isolated attestation in Galatians 4:6; the ordinary word is atta : see dad n.¹), < the same Indo-European base as Sanskrit pitṛ , Old Avestan ptar (Younger Avestan pitar ), ancient Greek πατήρ , classical Latin pater ( > Old French paire , pedre , Old French, Middle French pere , French père , Old Occitan, Occitan paire , Catalan pare , Spanish padre , Portuguese pãe , Italian padre ), Oscan patir , Gaulish ater- , atr- , Early Irish athair , Armenian hayr , Tocharian A pācar , Tocharian B pācer , probably originally a derivative (with suffixation) of a nursery word of the pa type (see papa n.²). A similar suffix is found in other Indo-European relationship terms (compare mother n.¹, brother n., daughter n.), although these suffixes may ultimately be of different origin.Form and pronunciation history. Spellings with medial th , reflecting the change of postvocalic /d/ to /ð/ before syllabic /r/ or /ər/ (as in mother n.¹, hither adv., weather n.), are securely attested from c1400. Apparent earlier examples spelt with ð may show transmission errors, either showing a simple error for d (since the letters differ only by a cross-stroke), or reflecting more general confusion of the graphemes ð and d at the point when the former was becoming obsolete. The English regional (northern) instances with -dther may preserve an interim step in the development from /d/ to /ð/ (so E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunciation 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §384 and R. Jordan Handb. der mittelenglischen Grammatik (1934) §298), or may reflect a later development arising from association of the form father with words in which th is the reflex of Old English ð (so J. Wright Eng. Dial.Gram. (1905) 297); compare similar spellings with -dther of e.g. brother n., feather n. Modern regional forms with d either preserve the original consonant or show a subsequent change of /ð/ to /d/ (as e.g. in some northern and north-eastern varieties of Scots). Middle English and early modern English had pronunciations with both a long and a short vowel in the first syllable. The modern standard pronunciation with /ɑː/ shows the result of a more recent (post-Great Vowel Shift) lengthening (as also in e.g. rather adv.), while other pronunciations with a long vowel or diphthong (as /ˈfeːðə(r)/, /ˈfeɪðə(r)/, etc., now only found in regional use) show the operation of the Great Vowel Shift on the reflex of Middle English long ā ; see further discussion in E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunciation 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §§53–5. Inflection. In Old English usually a strong masculine originally belonging to the small class of kinship nouns in –r . An isolated weak genitive plural form is also attested. Original inflection as a kinship term is chiefly reflected in Old English by the frequency of unmarked genitive and dative singular forms (West Saxon fæder ; compare Old Saxon fader , Old High German fater ; genitive and dative singular). Forms with i-mutation of the stem vowel would be expected in the dative and this is apparently attested in Northumbrian feder , but feder otherwise appears chiefly in varieties where feder is also the regular reflex of the nominative (Mercian and Kentish). The early Mercian genitive singular form feadur (with back mutation of the stem vowel) reflects survival of an inherited vowel u in the second syllable in the genitive (frequently assumed to reflect the Indo-European inflectional ending); compare early Northumbrian genitive singular -fadur (in uuldurfadur ; perhaps also later Northumbrian fador , fadur ) and Old Icelandic genitive singular fǫður . Beside these inherited forms, analogical genitive and dative forms are also attested from Old English onwards; compare West Saxon genitive singular fæderes . The unmarked genitive is still frequent in early Middle English, but by the beginning of the early modern English period the s -genitive had become standard. The unmarked genitive survives beyond Middle English in certain Scots compounds (see Compounds 2b). Specific senses. In many senses after corresponding uses, often in post-classical Latin, of classical Latin pater. In sense 3 ultimately after Hebrew 'aḇ forefather, progenitor, extended use of 'aḇ male parent. In spiritual father at sense 7a after post-classical Latin pater spiritualis (see spiritual adj.).

a. The male parent of a human being; a man in relation to his child or children. Also occasionally: a male animal in relation to its offspring. (The male counterpart of mother n.¹ 1a.)Father is frequently preceded by a possessive (as ‘my father’) or used as a form of address (where, except occasionally in poetic language, my is commonly omitted); it is also used without possessive (e.g., in quot. 1778) in the manner of a proper name.As a form of address, father now tends to be regarded as formal or archaic, while more colloquial equivalents, esp. dad n.¹, are preferred (see also daddy n., pa n.¹, papa n.², pop n.⁴, etc.).absentee father, baby-father, birth father, expectant father, putative father, Roman father, weekend father, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun]

fatherOE

sirec1250

authora1398

flesh-fathera1400

genitor1447

daddy1523

dad1533

bab1598

patera1600

dada1672

relieving officer1677

papa1681

pappy1722

baba1771

pa1773

governor1783

paw1826

fatherkin1839

pop1840

bap1842

pap1844

da1851

baba1862

puppa1885

pops1893

poppa1897

pot and pan1900

papasana1904

daddy-o1913

bapu1930

baby-father1932

abba1955

birth father1977

OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Deut. (Claud.) xxiv. 16 Ne slea man fæderas for suna gylton, ne suna for fædera gylton.

OE tr. Apollonius of Tyre (1958) xvii. 26 Leofa fæder, þu lyfdest me litle ær þæt ic moste gifan Apollonio swa hwæt swa ic wolde.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 165 Ðe sune wussheð þe fader deað ar his dai cume.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 11 Ðanne reiseð his fader him [sc. a lion cub] mit te rem ðat he makeð.

c1300 Holy Cross (Laud) 457 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 14 He liet cristny and maken him king of al is fader lond.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 241 A kowherde, sire,..is my kynde fader.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. lxxii. 1225 Þe coldenesse of þe fader and of þe moder haþ maystry in þe mule.

1422 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 305 (MED) My fathers laste wyll was þat hys londes schuld return Vn-to þe eyre Male & neuer to þe female.

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4860 Whanne Fader or moder arn in grave.

a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 10 Herry Percy, whos fadere was slayne at Yorke felde.

1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxv. f. 237^v Then she sayde vnto him: Father, doubt not at all that my heart shall faile in performance of your commaundement.

a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Four Plays in One in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Dddddddd4^v/2 My mother, father, and uncle love me most indulgently, being the onely branch of all their stocks.

1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa ii. ii. 144 Ginetti..proved his Fathers own Son.

1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 137 To send a preventative Medicine to the Father of the Child.

1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea I. xiv. 94 For a son to call his father by that endearing name.

1778 F. Burney Evelina II. xxiii. 222 Father grew quite uneasy, like, for fear of his Lordship's taking offence.

1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone ii. 28 But not for lordship or for land, My Father, do I clasp your knees.

1851 G. H. Miles Governess viii. 99 ‘A good father is a daughter's best safeguard.’ ‘Do you call me a good father?’ he retorted.

1857 W. M. Thackeray in Harper's Mag. Dec. 95/2 Only this mornin', when you went out, my darter says, ‘Father, do you know why you have a black coat on?’

1884 Ld. Tennyson Becket v. ii. 189 His father gave him to my care.

1934 Esquire Dec. 49/3 Daughter of Mrs. Sally Alden, father unknown! What malarkey!

1958 P. Gibbs Curtains of Yesterday xiv. 130 ‘How do you think I look, Father?’ she cried gaily. ‘Ravishing!’ he said, good-humouredly.

1973 Iowa Rev. 4 52 Course, I get some good natured kidding, now that I'm going to be a father again, at my age.

2004 R. Dawkins Ancestor's Tale 237 My father regaled my little sister and me with bedtime stories.

b. A man who undertakes the responsibilities of a parent towards a child; a man who adopts a child as his own; a stepfather. Also: a father-in-law.adoptive father, foster-father, good-father, nourish-father, nurse-father, stepfather, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] > -in law, step, or adoptive

fatherOE

OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxvii. 5 Ealle..þa þe wydewum syn wraðe æt dome oþþe steopcildum wesen strange fæderas.

?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þe ærcebiscop & te wise men..makede ðat sahte ðat..he helde him for fader & he him for sune, & sib & sæhte sculde ben betwyx heom.

1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iv. i. 2 My Father Capolet will haue it so.

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. i. 23 Stand thee by Frier, father..Will you with free and vnconstrained soule Giue me this maide your daughter?

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. ii. 64 If you would not [weep for him], it were a good signe, that I should quickely haue a new Father .

1699 J. Potter Archæologiæ Græcæ II. iv. xv. 369 Whoever was thus adopted, was at Athens first made free of the City, and then had his Name enroll'd in the Tribe and Ward of his new Father.

1726 A. Smith Mem. Jonathan Wild 197 To convince my new Father and Mother of the Truth of what I say, as well as my intirely beloved, but much more vertuous Spouse.

1796 N.-Y. Weekly Mag. 6 July 6/2 The elder brother bidding him be a father to his children, and recommended his wife to his protection.

1821 Q. Rev. Jan. 463 His condition was not improved when he was taken from school to thresh in a barn, with his legal father.

1885 Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours Aug. 100/2 I'm your father now, old fellow—think you can learn to call me papa?

1914 Catholic World Feb. 622 ‘He is my father—the only father I have ever known.’ ‘But not the only father you have ever had,’ Wyverne reminded her.

1976 A. Tyler Searching for Caleb xi. 198 ‘Oh, I do hope Father likes the–’ ‘Remind me to ask Father if he wouldn't care to—’ But Duncan was the one Lucy thought of, not her father-in-law at all.

2011 S. Mansfield Where has Oprah taken Us? i. 12 Having no children of his own, he had become her father.

†c. A person who assumes the role of father of the bride at a wedding by giving her away at the altar (see to give away 2 at give v. Phrasal verbs 1). Also in father-in-church. Obsolete.nuptial father: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > people connected with wedding > [noun] > one who brings or gives away bride

bride-leader1552

father1600

despouser1635

nuptial father1748

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. iv. 15 You must be father to your brothers daughter, And giue her to young Claudio.

1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 136 He goes on still and without interruption, till he came to Who giveth this woman to bee married, &c. and holding her by the hand, looking ever when some one or other would doe the office of a Father, to give her.

1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 191 I was Father at the Altar..and gave her away.

1758 C. Lennox Henrietta I. i. ix. 66 The clerk acted as father to the weeping bride.

1832 M. R. Mitford Our Village V. 216 Where's Miss Judith? Go and give her notice that we are coming, and that I have bespoken to be father at the wedding.

1871 Mrs. H. Wood Dene Hollow I. vi. 151 ‘I shall want you to stand father-in-church to this young lady,’ said Geoffrey to the clerk.

1907 O. Harper Fighting Bill vii. 111 The poor girl..allowed herself to be led to her place by Teddy, who was to act as father and give the bride away.

d. colloquial and regional. Used by a mother to address or refer to the father of her children.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married man > [noun] > husband > term of address

father1855

1855 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. ii. 12 ‘Never mind, Father, never mind!’ said Mrs. Meagles.

1865 W. B. Forfar Kynance Cove vii. 43 ‘That's the way weth fa-ather, always, es n't et, Alice Ann?’ said Mrs. Millar, in a sarcastic tone, turning to her daughter.

1960 C. Watson Bump in Night iv. 40 If anyone was to blame it was Mr Biggadyke. He nearly lost father his job over that business.

2008 D. Sharp Mama does Time xxxv. 239 ‘I'll be back for you in a couple of hours, Mother.’ ‘I'll be right here, Father.’

2. In theological contexts.

a. God considered as a father in relation to Christ, to humankind in general (considered as his offspring, the objects of his loving care, or as owing him obedience and reverence), or to Christians (as his children by adoption or spiritual rebirth). Also occasionally in non-Christian contexts: a god, a male deity. Cf. Our Father n. 1, All-Father n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] > according to other attributes

horn of salvation (health)c825

fatherOE

Our FatherOE

leecha1200

searcher of (men's) heartsa1382

untempter1382

headstone of the cornerc1400

Valentinec1450

illuminator1485

sun?1521

righteous maker1535

shepherd1535

verity1535

strengthener1567

gracer1592

heart-searcher1618

heartbreaker1642

sustainera1680

philanthropist1730

the invisible1781

praise1782

All-Father1814

wisdom1855

omniscient1856

engracer1866

inbreather1873

God of the gaps1933

the great —— in the sky1968

the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun]

godeOE

deityc1374

higher powerc1384

princec1384

divinityc1386

governorc1400

powerc1425

numen1495

fear1535

heaven1554

godheada1586

godhood1586

landlorda1635

supreme1643

supercelestial1652

supernal1661

universality1681

father1820

unspeakable1843

Molimo1861

Mlimo1897

superperson1907

somebody up there1972

sky fairy1997

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxiii. 9 An ys eower fædyr se þe on heofonum ys.

OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 365 Ic and min Fæder syndon witodlice an.

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 25 He..steih in to heuene, and sitt on his fader swiðre.

a1300 Passion our Lord l. 624 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 55 (MED) Er he wolde astyen to heuene to his vedere.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §57 He hath agilt his fader celestial.

1442 in A. T. Bannister Reg. Thome Spofford (1919) 252 (MED) The fader of hevyn have yow in his kepyng.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 1015 Joy and honoure be to the Fadir of Hevyn.

1533 J. Gau in tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay To Rdr. sig. Aii Grace, marcie, and pece, of god our fader.

1562 N. Winȝet Last Blast Trompet sig. A2^v The lauchfull vocatioun of his heuinlie fader.

1611 B. Jonson Catiline ii. sig. E2^v Great Father Mars, and greater Ioue.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 59 The Almighty Father..bent down his eye, His own works and their works at once to view.

1734 I. Watts Reliquiæ Juveniles lii. 202 To see all the Disciples of Christ grown up into such a Catholic Spirit, as to be ready to worship God their common Father..in the same Assembly.

1775 J. Harris Philos. Arrangem. x. 249 Thro' which Relation They are called His Offspring, and He Their Father.

1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 37 Most unwillingly I come, by the great Father's will driven down, To execute a doom of new revenge.

1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 43 Uphold me, Father, in my loneliness A little longer!

1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 2 Some..austere step-son of the Christian God, jealous of the divine benignity..of his father's house.

1914 C. S. Thoms Working Man's Christ xii. 254 Our Father who art in heaven, remember in love and mercy the man I gambled out of fifty dollars to-day.

1977 J. Johnston Shadows on our Skin 136 Please don't let anyone speak again, prayed Joe. Dear Father of Mercy, let no one utter, let us have only silence.

2011 Daily Post (N. Wales) (Nexis) 25 July 18 We sometimes forget that everything we have has been given to us by our heavenly father and, therefore, is not ours to keep.

b. Chiefly with the and capital initial. The First Person (person n. 6a) of the Trinity. Cf. son n.¹ 2, Holy Ghost n. 1, and God the Father at god n. 5b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > the Father > [noun]

fatherOE

fatherheada1425

first person?a1450

omniparent1609

OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xiv. 26 Se haliga frofre gast þe fæder [L. pater] sent on minum naman.

OE Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Kansas Y 103) in Speculum (1962) 37 63 Þas gyrda getacniað Fæder & Sunu & þone halgan gast.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 53 Þe feder and þe sune and þe halie gast iscilde us þer wið.

c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 930 Þurth God þe Fadres miȝt.

a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) i. 7 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 131 Blisse to þe fadre and to þe sone And to þe haligaste.

a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) l. 459 Leue on fader and sone & holy gost.

1548 tr. M. Luther Chiefe Articles Christen Faythe sig. Avj^v The Holy Goost from the Father and the Sonne procedynge.

1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. f. 40^v Wherby appeareth, that the name of God is there relatiuely taken, and therefore restrained to the Person of the Father.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. i. i. ii. 505 The holy Ghost is the Loue of the Father and the Sonne.

1675 T. Brooks Paradice Opened 71 God the father, who from Eternity, had fore-assigned Christ to this office of a Mediator.

1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. i. 7 And God the Father turns a School-Divine.

1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 220 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will then become co-embodied in this divine body.

1851 J. M. Neale Mediæval Hymns 127 Honour, laud, and praise addressing To the Father and the Son.

1886 F. W. Farrar Hist. Interpr. 288 Christ had ascended incorporeally to the Father.

1932 E. A. Kirkpatrick Sci. of Man in Making xiii. 336 The religious minded are concerned with doing the Father's will.

1980 Times 20 Dec. 14/2 God the Father had redeemed the loss of grace mankind had suffered as a result of the first Adam's fall.

2003 Baptist Times 9 Oct. 1/3 The three ladies each gave a testimony before being sprinkled with water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

c. Christ considered as a father in relation to Christians or humankind. Now somewhat rare.Quot. 1859 echoes quot. a1470.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > the Son or Christ > [noun] > according to other attributes

horn of salvation (health)c825

fatherOE

sun of righteousnessOE

priestc1175

leecha1200

vinec1315

apostlec1382

amenc1384

shepherdc1384

the Wisdom of the Father1402

high priest1526

pelican1526

mediatora1530

reconcilerc1531

branch1535

morning star1535

surety1535

vicar1651

arch-shepherd1656

hierarch1855

particularity1930

OE Azarias 103 Þec, Crist cyning, ceolas weorðian, fæder, forst ond snaw, folca waldend.

OE Crist III 1218 Þonne Crist siteð..on heahsetle, heofonmægna God, fæder ælmihtig.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) v. l. 511 (MED) If it be þi wille, Þat art owre fader and owre brother.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 1014 Fayre Fader, Jesu Cryst! I thanke The.

1581 R. Crowley Aunswer Sixe Reasons vi. sig. G.j^v The Church (being the spowse of Christe) is our mother, and hath receyued commission, from her husband, and our father Christ, to teach vs all those things that he hath taught and commaunded her to doo.

1646 W. Prynne Canterburies Doome 214 Honour, Reverence and respect the sacred and glorious Virgin Mary with an especiall Love: she is the Mother of our Soveraigne Lord and heavenly Father Christ Iesus.

1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity i. ii. vi. 122 Christ..is the Everlasting Father and holy Regeneratour of his true Church into his own life and likeness.

1734 J. Mottley Stow's Surv. London & Westm. I. ii. iii. 313/2 My Life's first Hour proved the Last to me..to our Father Christ I went.

1859 Ld. Tennyson Guinevere in Idylls of King 254 Our fair father Christ.

1952 R. Bunzel Chichicastenango iii. 156 I pray you to give the blessing over our drink, which is that of Our Father, Jesus Christ.

2013 Daily Oklahoman (Nexis) 5 Apr. a12 His faith in Christ our Father showed through in everything he did.

3. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a forefather, a progenitor; esp. the founder of a race or family, spec. Adam or one of the biblical patriarchs (see patriarch n. 2a(b)). More loosely: a man belonging to an earlier age.See also to be gathered to one's fathers at Phrases 3.chief father, elder-father, former father, forn-father, grandfather, stem-father, stock-father, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun]

elder-fathereOE

fatherOE

elder971

alderOE

eldfatherOE

forme-fadera1200

ancestorc1300

grandsirec1300

aiela1325

belsirea1325

predecessora1325

forefather1377

morea1382

progenitorc1384

antecessorc1400

forn-fatherc1460

forebear1488

ancient1540

antecestrec1550

fore-grandsirec1550

grandfather1575

ascendant1604

forerunnera1616

ancienter1654

tupuna1845

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun] > collectively

fatherOE

forthfatherc1000

eldringsc1300

lineage13..

ancestry?a1400

fore-eldersa1400

ancestory1642

majority1646

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun] > first ancestor or patriarch

chief fatherc1400

father?a1425

primitive1486

stock-father1600

stem1604

primogenitor1643

patriarch1758

stem-father1879

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > [noun] > member of > patrician > collectively

fathera1538

patricianship1824

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke i. 55 Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros abraham et semini eius in sæcula : suæ gesprecen wæs to fadores usra & sede his in worulde.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) iii. 9 Ne cweþað betwux eow, we habbað Abraham us to fæder.

OE Ælfric Homily: Sermo ad Populum (Corpus Cambr. 188) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 419 Se frumsceapena mann.., Adam ure fæder, wæs ðurh God swa gesceapen þæt he beon mihte butan synnum.

a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 197 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 226 Vre foremes faderes gult we abugeð alle.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 494 Ðus fel Adam ðurȝ a tre, Vre firste fader.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. iii. l. 126 Ȝowre fadre she felled þorw fals biheste.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 43 (MED) The Sarazines..han the place in gret reuerence for the holy fadres, the Patriarkes þat lyȝn þere.

a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 13 Theyr cyvyle ordynance & statutys devysyd by theyr old fatherys in every secte.

1589 A. Barlowe in R. Hakluyt Principal Navigations 732 The Sauages were neuer at it [sc. Schycoake], onely they speake of it, by the report of their Fathers, and other men, whome they haue heard affirme it, to be about one daies iourney about.

1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. E2 He loved Sword and Buckler men, and such as our Fathers were wont to call, men of their hands.

1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 351 God; who fed Our Fathers here with Manna.

1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 36 In ancient Days, The Roman Legions, and great Cæsar found Our Fathers no mean Foes.

1778 W. Burgh Inq. Belief Christians ii. 74 The transmitted sin of our first Father.

a1800 W. Cowper Yardley-Oak in W. Hayley Life & Posthumous Writings Cowper (1804) III. 415 One man alone, the father of us all, Drew not his life from woman.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 20 Nor were the arts of peace neglected by our fathers during that stirring period.

1974 Historia 23 32 Kimon returned from Skyros claiming to have the bones of Theseus, the national hero and ancestral father of the Athenians and the Ionians.

1992 Presbyterian Rec. Sept. 19/2 History is always ambiguous. Maybe we're debunking too much these days, exposing the sins of our fathers.

2010 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 11 Mar. 22/2 On one side were those who remained true to the faith of their fathers.

a. A person, esp. a ruler or superior, who provides protecting care like that of a father; a person who shows paternal kindness, or to whom filial reverence and obedience are due.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > one who looks after > protector or patron

fathereOE

mundOE

governor1340

protectorc1390

feedera1400

patronc1400

taker-upa1425

fautora1464

provisora1475

vower1488

presidenta1522

parent1526

guardiant1618

big brother1837

avoué1851

fanger-

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 920 Hine geces þa to fæder & to hlaforde Scotta cyning & eall Scotta þeod.

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 116 Ealle þa hyredmenn hine [sc. St Sebastian] hæfdon for fæder and mid lufe wurðodon.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job xxix. 16 Fader I was of pore men [L. pater eram pauperum].

a1460 Earl of March & Earl of Rutland Let. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. I. 9 Oure..ryght noble lorde and ffadur.

1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xx. sig. c.vii The senate & people..wolde haue hym called, the great Alexander, and father of the countray.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xix. sig. Tt4 You are a Prince, & a father of people, who ought..to set downe all priuate conceits, in comparison of what for the publike is profitable.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. i. 101 A Father of the Common-weale.

1636 P. Massinger Great Duke of Florence i. ii. sig. C2^v For her love I will be a Father to thee.

1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ Pref. sig. C2^v In Germany, no young Farmer is permitted to marry..till he..hath planted, and is a Father of such a stated number of Wallnut-Trees.

1732 S.-Carolina Gaz. 6 May 2/2 A Prince, who upon the highest Reason may challenge to be stiled The Father of his Country.

1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. iii. 159 It was meant to assert..that Scots..owed no duty to Rome or to Byzantium, but only to their Father and Lord at Winchester.

1889 Harper's Mag. July 198/1 The Czar is the father of his people, the Lord's anointed, the head of the orthodox Church.

1913 G. V. May Jack Denton's Devotion ii. 30 I pray you, son of the great nation beyond the seas, tell me where I can find America's father, Mr. Cogswell?

1979 J. Harvey Plate Shop xi. 56 As he grew older, and had a family at home, he came to see that he was the father of the shop.

2009 New Yorker 9 Mar. 47/3 Oddsson held on. ‘The father of the nation has become the madman on the roof,’ Magnason said.

b. A patron of literature or the arts. Chiefly historical with reference to Francis I of France (1494–1547). [With reference to Francis I of France after French père des lettres (16th cent. in Middle French).]

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > patronage > [noun] > patron > of the arts or literature

fathera1522

Maecenas1542

a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) i. Prol. 85 Fader of bukis, protectour to sciens and lair, My speciall gud Lord Henry, Lord Sanct Clair.

1751 J. Kippax tr. J. de Uztáriz Theory & Pract. Commerce & Maritime Affairs I. xxvii. 129 This father of arts and letters was the first of our kings, that projected the introduction of trade into France by distant voyages into the remote parts of the world.

1789 T. Holcroft tr. J. L. D'Alembert Let. in tr. King Frederick II Posthumous Wks. XI. lxxxii. 268 I am told that it is here intended to suppress the royal college, founded by Francis I, the father of literature.

1837 H. Hallam Hist. Lit. I. v. 461 Francis I. has obtained a glorious title, the Father of French literature.

1859 T. A. Trollope Decade Ital. Women II. 398 It is quite time that the historic claims of many princely ‘fathers of literature’..should be more rightly appreciated.

1982 R. J. Knecht Francis I i. 1 It was the birthplace of King Francis I, the ‘knight-king’ (roi-chevalier) and ‘father of letters’ (père des lettres).

a. Roman History. In plural. With capital initial. The senators of ancient Rome (cf. conscript fathers at conscript adj. 1a). Also occasionally: the Patricians (patrician n.¹ 1b).

ΚΠ

OE Glosses to Boethius (Corpus Cambr. 214) in W. C. Hale Edition & Codicol. Study CCCC MS 214 (Ph.D. diss., Univ. Pennsylvania) (1978) 287 Sed quondam dabat improbus uerend [is] Patribus indecores curules : ac eugefyrn sealde se manfulla arwurþum fædrum unwlitige oþþe bysmurfulle ealdorsetl.

?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) i. pr. iv. l. 414 Ȝit hadde I not desserued of þe fadres [L. patribus], þat is to seyne of þe senatours.

1445 tr. Claudian's De Consulatu Stilichonis in Anglia (1905) 28 281 (MED) Why knowith not yit the volume of Rome which conscript fadris shewith.

c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. ii. xv. 187 The samyn ȝere deceissit Meninius Agrippa, quhilk wes lufit baith with þe faderis [L. patribus] and small pepill.

1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iii. i. 1 Heare me graue Fathers .

1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. i. i. 9 The councell of estate should belong to the old, and ancient, who for their authoritie should be called Fathers [L. patres], and for their antiquitie, Senators, or Aldermen.

1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero I. v. 382 The authority of the Fathers, and the interests of the Republic.

1842 T. B. Macaulay Battle Lake Regillus in Lays Anc. Rome 100 The Fathers of the City Are met in high debate.

1842 T. B. Macaulay Horatius in Lays Anc. Rome 60 The Tribunes beard the high, And the Fathers grind the low.

1875 W. Ihne Early Rome iii. 37 From among the patricians, again, he [sc. Romulus] chose a hundred of the oldest and wisest men, whom he called Fathers.

1960 A. Duggan Family Favourites x. 198 He attended the Senate, and occasionally delivered a short speech to the assembled Fathers.

1990 C. McCullough First Man in Rome (1991) 39 The patrician was the antique aristocrat, one whose family was listed among the Fathers of Rome.

b. In plural. The leading men or elders of any city or assembly. Also occasionally in singular.city father, town father: see the first element.

ΚΠ

?1560 T. Norton Orations of Arsanes sig. L.iij^v The Princes of Germanie, the fathers of Venice, and other Christian Kynges and states.

1590 T. Fenne Frutes f. 57 A graue Father of Carthage who boldly stood foorth.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 201 From whence the Race of Alban Fathers come.

1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xviii. 93 A council of senators, emphatically styled the Fathers of the City.

1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall IV. xlvii. 555 The fathers..of the council were awed by this martial array.

1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth vii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 162 They were..the fathers of the city.

1842 N. Hawthorne Twice-told Tales II. 36 The Selectmen of Boston, plain, patriarchal fathers of the people.

1962 Listener 25 Oct. 647/2 The Council Fathers are supposed to maintain complete discretion, though almost all of them ‘leak’ to the press.

2008 Rio Rancho (New Mexico) Observer 4 May 6/1 What better way could the fathers of the city spend money than on its youth?

c. The longest serving (or sometimes the oldest) member of a society or institution. Cf. Father of the House n. at Phrases 6.Recorded earliest in †Father of the City: the oldest alderman (alderman n. 3) of the City of London (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > [noun] > member > oldest member

father1668

society > authority > office > holder of office > magistrate > municipal magistrate > [noun] > alderman > specific London alderman

grey cloak1621

Father of the City1668

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > oldest member

father1893

1668 N. Hardy Royal Common-wealths Man 32 He at length became and so continued for some years..the first among the 26. the eldest Alderman upon the bench that had served in the Office of a Lord Mayor, to whom is given that honourable title of the Father of the City.

1705 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 13 Sept. S^r Robert Clayton..Alderman, the Father of y^t City.

1764 Gentleman's & London Mag. Oct. 606/2 In the same year, upon the motion of Sir Robert Ladbrooke, then Father of the city, the thanks of the court of aldermen were given to Sir John Barnard.

1816 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 3 Dec. The venerable William Findley, now the oldest member, and by courtesy considered the Father, of the House of Representatives, has so far recovered the long illness which confined him at home the whole of the last session, as to have taken his seat.

1837 ‘Nimrod’ Chace, Turf, & Road ii. 132 Mr. Warde the father of the field, may..be called the father of the road also.

1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. vi. 47 You'll be the Father of the Marshalsea.

1880 Athenæum 18 Dec. 820/1 Sir Edward Sabine, now in his ninety-second year, is the father of the Society.

1893 Daily Tel. 8 July 7/3 The Right Hon. C. P. Villiers, M.P., ‘Father of the House of Commons’, was robbed of his watch on Thursday.

1944 N.Y. Times 27 July 16/3 At the end of his term he will have served five years longer than Justice Morrill of Vermont, once called the Father of the Senate.

1997 Western Daily Press (Nexis) 17 July 37 The 80-year-old Father of the House of Commons has been sifting through papers at his elegant period home in Salisbury Cathedral Close for some years now.

d. A person appointed to preside over an organization or an event.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > leader

lattewc825

lodera1325

chieftainc1386

foreleadera1400

bellwetherc1430

aurigac1460

leader1489

Moses1528

ringleader1548

general1582

foreman1603

coryphaeus1633

foreheada1641

senator1656

father1771

o-muraji1869

simba1964

neta1984

society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > one who presides > over a body of persons or their meetings

presidentc1390

praeses1619

pres.1686

father1771

1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 244 I will take your place..and think myself happy to be hailed, Father of the Feast.

1889 Dict. National Biogr. XVII. 303/1 He also took a leading part in the institution of the Smithfield Cattle Show, and on the death of Richard Astley was made ‘father’ of the show.

1916 Amer. Indian Mag. Oct. 347 As an indication of the busy life of our Society's ‘father’ the Fisk University News gives some of his engagements up to mid-October.

2006 F. Gabelnick in E. B. Klein & I. L. Pritchard Relatedness in Global Econ. vii. 163 Neither brother will claim the title of president or CEO... No one is the father of the organization.

a. As a title prefixed to the name of an older man, or one who commands respect. Also as a form of address to such a man. Cf. old man n. Compounds 4. Now rare, except in fixed collocations, as Father Christmas n. at Compounds 2a, (Old) Father Time at time n. 34b. Occasionally used mockingly.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous forms of address or title > [noun] > title > for a man > for old or older man

fatherOE

Mang1926

OE tr. Gospel of Nicodemus (Cambr.) xv. §4. 188 Þa Iudeas..wæron clypigende and cweðende: La fæder Ioseph, syb sig myd þynum ingange.

c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 6 Ða andswarede him dauid & cwæð, ‘Ealæ, fæder moyses.’

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2399 Iacob was brogt bi-foren ðe king..‘Fader derer [read dere],’ quað pharaon.

a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe i. 57 (MED) In schort tyme..comyth..an elde man..‘Fadyr’ seyde þe preste becawse of reuerens.

1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse Pref. sig. Aiv^v How often doth father Moses in his .V. bookes, make mention of Babilon.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. i. 3 He call'd me Father .

1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 413 It was the common way in Conversation..when Persons of Age and Authority spoke kindly to their Juniors, to say, Son, or, Daughter; and the others again used to say, Father, or, Mother: though there was no Kindred at all between them.

1799 R. Southey in Morning Post 17 Jan. 2/4 You are old, Father William, the young man said.

a1854 Canting Songs in J. Coleman Hist. Cant & Slang Dicts. (2004) I. 213 Then placed him in the nearest pew long side of father grey locks.

1947 B. Bhattacharya So Many Hungers! xiv. 211 A shrivel of a man came toddling... He saw Rahoul at the gates of the kitchen. ‘Father, is it true? You will give us rice to eat.’

2003 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 21 July 24 Old Father Winter, formerly a vicious old plaguer of midwinter households,..became fused with St Nicholas and re-emerged as Father Christmas.

b. As a title prefixed to the name of a major river, esp. the Thames. Cf. Father of waters (also rivers, floods) at Phrases 5, Old Man River n. at old man n. Compounds 4.

ΚΠ

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A6 As when old father Nilus gins to swell..His fattie waues doe fertile slime outwell.

1661 T. Ross tr. Silius Italicus Second Punick War i. 23 Untill on the Italian Shore The Ship arriv'd: where Father Tyber [L. pater..Thybris], made More rich by Anyo's Waters, doth invade With Yellow Waves the Sea.

1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 9 In vain on Father Thames she calls for Aid.

1747 T. Gray Ode Eton Coll. 4 Say, Father Thames,..Who foremost now delight to cleave With pliant Arm thy glassy Wave?

1813 H. Smith & J. Smith Horace in London i. ii. 19 Sir Francis..To father Thames commits his fate: In secret the uxorious tide Safe bears him to the Surrey side.

1897 Daily News 6 July 5/3 Hardy bargemen who ply Father Thames by day and night from Twickenham Ferry to the Nore.

1932 Collier's 9 Jan. 24/1 Father Mississippi had brought down a drift log and lodged it here, which caused an obstructed current to drop its sediment.

1999 Caravan Mag. June 69/3 Old Father Thames skirts it and the river Thame runs through to join the main river nearby.

7. Ecclesiastical and religious uses.

a. A male religious teacher, counsellor, or leader regarded as having a paternal relationship with those whom he advises; a spiritual director; a confessor. Also more fully spiritual father. Also as a form of address.With quot. 1614, cf. Job 29:16: ‘I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.’ (King James Bible).ghostly father, godfather, shrift-father, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > confessor > [noun]

shriftc897

fatherOE

shrift-father?c1225

penancerc1300

confessor1340

shriver1340

penitencera1387

penitentiary?a1475

pentionary1560

confessary1629

confessarius1661

scruple-drawer1701

soul friend1891

society > faith > worship > preaching > catechesis > [noun] > one who performs

fatherOE

catechizerc1449

mystagoguec1540

oracle1548

catechist1564

guru1613

director1671

swami1901

society > faith > worship > preaching > catechesis > [noun] > one who performs > to whom one owes one's spiritual life

fatherOE

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxvii. 407 Þa ðe for heofonan rices myrhðe forlætað fæder & moder..hi underfoð manega gastlice fæderas.

OE Regularis Concordia (Tiber.) (1993) xxii. 37 Ut fratrum unusquisque suę conscientię reatum patri spirituali..per humilem reuelet confessionem : þæt gebroþra æghwylc hys inngehydes gylt fæder gastlicum..þurh eadmode geopenige andetnesse.

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 7 (MED) Mine gastliche faderes.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 235 Inoch is to segge swa. þet þe schrift fader witerliche understonde hwat þu wule meanen.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. iv. 15 If ȝe han ten thousandis of litle maistris in Crist Jhesu, but not manye fadris [L. patres].

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1865 Min holy fader, so I wile.

c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. l. 120 Ȝe sholde be here fadres and techen hem betere.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Ellesmere) (1877) §909 So is his [sc. a child's] godfader his fader espiritueel.

a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe i. 44 (MED) Þe ankyr of þe Frer Prechowrys in Lenn, whech was principal gostly fadyr to þis creatur.

?a1500 (a1471) Brut (Lyell) in J. S. Davies Eng. Chron. (1856) 64 (MED) There thay slow him horribly, thair fader and thair bisshoppe.

1567 W. Allen Treat. Def. Priesthod 226 We call them Confessours, & of olde in Grece, they were named Spirituall maisters or Fathers.

1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxiv. 156 It sauoureth more of pietie to giue them their old accustomed name of fathers and mothers in God.

1614 W. Kinsman & E. Kinsman tr. A. de Villegas Lives of Saints 620 All his [sc. St Thomas Becket's] other vertues:..so good a father to the poore, that none departed from him without reliefe.

1651 D. Cawdrey Inconsistencie Independent Way 164 In the Church, the Ministers are spirituall fathers to the members.

1677 Lady Chaworth in MSS Duke of Rutland (12th Rep. Hist. MSS Comm.) (1889) App. v. 43 The D[uchess] of Portsmouth..has promised it to her ghostly father.

1717 T. Brett Independency Church upon State 50 Although God have given the Bishop a Right to such Maintenance, yet if he has it not, he is no less the Father of that Flock than if he had it.

1769 H. Venn in Life (1835) 152 A lady said to me, ‘You, Sir, are my spiritual father!’

1783 H. Bright Praxis 59 My Fathers and Mothers in a religious, spiritual and godly Sense, or Proparents, who covenanted for me at the Baptismal Font.

1828 T. S. Grimshawe Mem. L. Richmond (1829) 132 He was regarded by them [sc. the communicants] as a father.

1889 W. Pater Appreciations 239 Do you think it could be my duty, as a relative of Mademoiselle de Courteheuse, her spiritual father, as a prelate of the Church, to lend my hands to such disorder?

1908 D. De Leon tr. E. Sue Branding Needle iii. iii. 114 Ah, my father in Christ!

1967 H. Welch Pract. Chinese Buddhism 1900–1950 ii. ix. 247 That monk became his ‘father’.

2010 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 28 July a7/1 I have had the privilege of walking with a spiritual father since 1998.

b. A priest belonging to a religious or monastic order. Also as a title given to the head of a monastery or other religious community. Cf. brother n. 9, Father Superior at superior adj. 6b.Cowley Father, Oblate Father, purple father, White Father, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbot > [noun]

abboteOE

fatherOE

Pater Abbasc1400

father abbot1479

abbas1550

abbot-presbyter1641

abbate1750

OE St. Euphrosyne (Julius) in W. W. Skeat Ælfric's Lives of Saints (1900) II. 336 Þæs mynstres fæder wæs swyðe mære beforan gode.

c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) l. 13 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 220 (MED) Fader..par charite, oþur red þov most take.

?c1335 (a1300) Land of Cokaygne l. 176 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 149 (MED) Þilk monke þat slepiþ best..Of him is hoppe..To be sone uadir abbot.

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Riii Abbot Pyor..whiche amonge a greate multitude of fathers & bretherne, gathered to gyther, in maner of a visitacion..dyd in this wyse.

a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 48 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) He..became father of the Monkes of Saint Hilarie.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 280 'Blesse you good Father Frier.

1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks iii. 140 The Capuchin Fathers are the only men that have witnessed some horror for so extravagant a Pomp.

1739 T. Gray Jrnl. in France in Wks. (1884) I. 244 It [sc. the Chartreuse] contains about 100 Fathers, and Freres together.

1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 112 S. Maria di Galiera is a beautiful church, and belongs to the fathers of the oratory.

1838 F. W. Brewster Let. 28 Nov. in Month (1944) July 269 I am the only Father alive of the English Carmel at Tongres.

1931 H. A. L. Fisher in J. C. Squires If it had happened Otherwise 123 The general had set out on his errand, disguised as a Jesuit Father, and charged with letters and proclamations to the Canadian French.

1953 Studies 42 430 He received Anglican orders from Bishop Grafton, of Fond-du-Lac, himself a Cowley Father.

2015 K. Górniak-Kocikowska in I. A. Murzaku Monasticism in Eastern Europe vii. 167 There are also two female orders residing in Licheń and assisting the Marian Fathers.

c. Holy Father n. (frequently preceded by the or our) the Pope. [Compare post-classical Latin sanctus pater (8th century in a British source with reference to a pope).]

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > pope > [noun]

popeeOE

apostoilec1275

vicary1303

vicar1340

bridge maker1341

Antichristc1370

vicar generalc1386

Holy Fatherc1400

servant of the servants of Godc1405

His Holy Fatherhood?a1425

universal bishopc1475

holiness1502

harlot1535

papa1555

Apostolic seat1560

vicegerent1572

man of Rome1581

pontiff1583

bullman1588

apostolicship1599

Pontifex Maximus1610

infallibleship1613

sanctity1633

popeship1641

decretaliarch1656

blessedness1670

Holy seata1674

infallibilityship1679

pontifexa1680

holyshipc1680

unholiness1682

His Infallibility1834

Pape1927

c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 163 Al þe reaume & patronages of cherches of Engeland and of Irland..we wille resceyue & holde of oure moder che[r]che of Rome, as fee ferme, doyng feaute to our holy fader þe Pope.

1410 in W. Fraser Red Bk. Menteith (1880) II. 281 Our hally fadire the Pape.

1418 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 292 (MED) Þe bulles of prouision maad vnto hym by oure holy fader, þe pope.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 209 (MED) I..schewed my lif to oure holy fadir, the Pope.

1527 T. Walle in G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1827) App. 521 They..by force imprisoned our Holy Father the Pope.

1588 (title) The Holy Bull, And Crusado of Rome: First published by the Holy father Gregory the xiii.

1607 B. Barnes Divils Charter ii. i. sig. D2 We little thought it our most holy father, that our alegeance to the Church of Rome..should haue enforc'd you to take sanctuary.

1682 J. Banks Vertue Betray'd i. i. 3 Now, by our Holy Father's Triple Crown It must not, cannot, nay, it shall not be.

1741 B. Willis Let. 28 Oct. in A. P. Jenkins Corr. T. Secker (1991) 64 He..taught held & affyrmed that our Holy Fadre The Pope of Rome is a great Best & a devyll of Hell.

1771 E. Kimber & R. Johnson Wotton's Baronetage of Eng. III. 85 Provided to the bishopric of Chichester, by the pope, and consecrated by the holy father himself, on the first Sunday in Lent, anno 1247.

1808 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) iii. App. 24 The people's superstition is so great that they are running after the holy father in the streets, and endeavoring to kiss the hem of his garment.

1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table vii. 186 Many a Holy Father's ‘niece’ Has softly smoothed the papal chair.

1922 Glasgow Herald 23 Jan. 11 Every good Catholic should see eye to eye with the Holy Father in everything.

1970 Daily Tel. 28 Aug. 14 The warning contained in the Holy Father's sweeping condemnation of nowaday permissiveness.

2005 Austin (Texas) Amer.-Statesman (Nexis) 4 Apr. e1 All those in attendance were ushered into an audience chamber, and the Holy Father soon entered.

d. In formal designations for a bishop, as Reverend Father, Right Reverend Father (in God), †worshipful father (in God). Similarly in formal designations for an archbishop, as Most Reverend Father (in God). Now chiefly Roman Catholic Church. [Compare post-classical Latin reverendissimus pater, reverentissimus pater (from 8th century in British sources).]

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > archbishop > [noun]

archbishopc885

erchevesque?a1400

father1418

arch-flamena1530

archbish1560

hierarch1574

arch-prelate1597

grace1625

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > bishop > [noun]

bishopc897

patriarcheOE

bispa1300

ordinarya1325

ordinar?1403

father1418

discretion1421

pontificalc1440

diocesanc1450

rocheter1559

monseigneur1561

pope1563

bite-sheep1570

presul1577

rochet1581

diocesser1606

lawn sleevesc1640

episcopant1641

Right Reverend1681

diocesian1686

lawn-man1795

diocesiarch1805

bish1875

shire-bishop1880

1418 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 294 (MED) Worshipful fader yn god, right trusty and welbeloued. We grete yow wel.

1448 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) 39 (MED) Please hit yn to youre..Lordship..to write unto the right reverend fader yn God..Edmund Bysshop of the Cathedrall churche of Excetre.

1473–4 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1472 2nd Roll §10. m. 16 That worshipfull fader William Wykeham, sumtyme bisshop of Wynchestre.

1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. aa This treatise..was..compyled by the ryght reuerente fader in god Iohan fyssher..bysshop of Rochester.

?1521 J. Fisher Serm. agayn Luther (title page) Y^e most reuerend fader in god y^e lord Thomas Cardinal of Yorke.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. vii. 61 He is within with two right reuerend fathers, Diuinely bent to meditation.

1628 Churchwardens' Accts. St. Margaret's, Westm. in J. Nichols Illustr. Manners & Expences Antient Times (1797) 38 Item, of the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Winchester.

1682 D. Abercromby Protestancy to be Embrac'd Ded. sig. A2 To the Right Reverend Father in God, Henry, Lord Bishop of London, Dean of His Majesties Chappel.

1715 ‘C. Dodd’ Secret Policy Eng. Society of Jesus 152 You also, reverend Father, have a sensible rap over the Knuckles in the same Brief.

1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. 370 God forgive his Gravityship the very Reverend Father Provincial.

1838 J. H. Ingraham Burton I. i. vi. 89 She says to me, with much sighing and whispering, ‘Reverend father, [etc.]’.

1893 Catholic Dict. (new ed.) 590/1 The Very Reverend Father Colin died..at the age of eighty-five.

1901 Times 16 Mar. 8/1 The King has been pleased to appoint the Right Reverend Father in God Randall, Bishop of Winchester, to be Clerk of the Closet.

1934 Sewanee Rev. 42 350 An earnest group of scholars, laboring under the watchful eye of the Right Reverend Father in God, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes.

1954 Times 13 Sept. 8/4 A telegram from the Pope, signed by Archbishop Montini, has been sent to the Most Rev. Father K. Lynch.

2009 B. Mitchell tr. G. Grass Tin Drum 123 Mama..entered the Church of the Sacred Heart each Saturday and confessed to the Right Reverend Father [Ger. Hochwürden] Wiehnke.

e. As a prefix to the first name or surname of a priest; abbreviated F. or Fr. Also as a form of address to a priest.The title was formerly restricted to those priests belonging to a religious or monastic order (see sense 7b), and therefore initially discontinued in the reformed Church of England. In the 19th cent., Father became the usual English mode of designating a Roman Catholic priest, even among non-Roman Catholics, but some secular priests still refused the title as incorrect, preferring their names to be prefixed ‘The Rev.’. The title has also come to be adopted by many priests within the High Church wing of the Church of England.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > [noun]

priesteOE

presbyterOE

sirec1290

beauperec1300

sirc1386

fatherhooda1393

fatherheada1434

paternity1439

pater1481

fathershipa1500

father1528

key-bearer?1531

key-keeper?1556

vicegerent1572

priestdom1588

sacerdosa1592

flasher1611

priesthooda1616

père1619

sacerdote1685

firekeeper1789

soggarth1836

priestship1868

soutane1890

joss-man1913

1528 Rede me & be nott Wrothe sig. bvi^v I knowe a fryer in a place, Whom they call father Matthias.

1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters i. f. xxii^v/1 The good Scottysh freer father Donold.

1593 in Dublin Rev. (1896) July 65 Mr Orton hath deliverid to me 66 rials for father gibbons.

1616 in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1906) 3 40 Father Didacus de Fuente, on of the familie of St. Dominike.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1645 (1955) II. 469 Father Kircher, who was then setting forth his greate work Obeliscus Pamphilius.

1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 288 Father Simon, was courteous.

1741 R. Challoner Mem. Missionary Priests I. 413 This same Year also were banished, Father William Weston, S.J.,..Father John Roberts, O.S.B.,..Mr. Anthony Wright, and Mr. James West, Priests.

1832 H. Martineau Ireland ii. 17 Father Glenny had readily absolv'd her from the sin of mistrusting heaven.

1890 Dublin Rev. 24 236 Our readers do not need to be told who Father Faber was.

1914 G. K. Chesterton Wisdom of Father Brown i. 24 Father Brown, I seriously ask you to compose your flock, for their sakes.

1953 B. Pym Jane & Prudence ii. 20 ‘Father Lomax, he calls himself,’ corrected Mrs. Glaze; ‘but of course he isn't married. There's no woman sets foot in that vicarage.’

1960 Times 27 Apr. 16/4 Archbishop John (of Paris),..Protodeacon Nicholas, Father George, and Father Vladimir took part in the service.

1976 J. Patrick Compulsion in Divorce—Anyone? 16 Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.

1995 G. Linehan & A. Mathews Good Luck, Father Ted (TV script, penultimate draft) in Father Ted (1999) 13/1 Mrs Doyle (turning to Jack): Now, Father, what do you say to a cup?

a. An originator, inventor, or founder of something; an important male figure in the origin and early history of something. Also: a man who provides the most conspicuous, influential, or archetypal example of something.In Old English with genitive.Pilgrim Fathers, puritan fathers: see the first element.See also Phrases 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > initiating or causing to begin > [noun] > institution or founding > one who or that which founds or establishes > those who found

fatherOE

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > leaders of

father1588

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xi. 268 He [sc. the devil] is leas & nan soðfæstnys nis on him, ac he is fæder ælcere leasungę.

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. i. l. 14 He [sc. God] is Fader of Fei.

a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 4493 (MED) Old Creon, fader of fellonye.

?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman i. viii. sig. H.ij^v Socrates the father of Philisophie [L. philosophiae parens] dyd get by sobre dyet, that he was neuer infected with any sore or ieoperdous sicknes.

1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Oh read ouer D. Iohn Bridges: Epist. 34 Iohn Cant. was the first father of this horrible error in our Church.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xv. iv. 432 The Greekes, whom we may count the very fathers and fosters of all vices [Fr. vrays Peres-nourrissiers de tous vices; L. vitiorum omnium genitores].

1700 J. Dryden Fables Pref., in Wks. (Globe) 499 He [sc. Chaucer] is the father of English poetry.

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. xlviii. 283 Hannibal was called The father of warlike stratagems.

1795 Hull Advertiser 14 Nov. 3/3 Dr. Hooper the father of the canal.

1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 29 May (1946) 73 Words..sung by the fathers of the reformation.

1844 D. Gooch Diaries (1892) 54 I may..I think, claim to be the father of express trains.

1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. p. ix To represent Plato as the father of Idealism.

1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz i. 23 Chas. Washington..was the father of the fakers, as he was unable to read a note of music.

1954 Law & Contemp. Probl. 19 656 ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,’ the Father of Psychoanalysis reminded them.

2004 New Yorker 2 Aug. 35/2 To refer to Rickles, as people often have, as ‘the father of insult comedy’ is perhaps a little far-fetched.

b. One of the early Christian writers, on whose works much later doctrine and theology is based. Also more fully Father of the Church. [After post-classical Latin pater ecclesiae (from 8th century in British and continental sources).] Usually applied to those writers of the first five centuries of Christianity.Apostolic Fathers, church father, Greek fathers, etc.: see the first element.

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 16 Ealle þa geleaffullan fæderas þe godes lare awriton.

a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 149 Hit seið in Vitas patrum ðat at sume sal waren ðe hali faderes to-gedere igadered.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 155 (MED) Ase zayþ þe boc of collacions of holy uaderes.

c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 1 (MED) The rewle of the moost holy fader Austyn.

a1475 Bk. Quinte Essence (1889) 18 (MED) It is preued in vitas patrum, þat is to seye, in lyues and colaciouns of fadris.

1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Pref. sig. ❧.i If a manne woulde searche out by the auncient fathers.

1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. ii. 146 As a certaine Father saith.

a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 200 To this discourse of Basil, other Fathers agree.

1692 J. Ray Misc. Disc. xi. 193 I have already given many Testimonies of the ancient Fathers and Doctors of the Church.

1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes 141 Irenaeus and Origen, and other Fathers.

1776 J. Chelsum Remarks Last Chapters Gibbon's Hist. 20 The Greek as well as the Latin Fathers.

1839 H. W. Longfellow Hyperion II. iv. vii. 191 I gazed with secret rapture on the vast folios of the Christian Fathers.

1887 J. R. Lowell Democracy in Prose Wks. (1890) VI. 14 A Father of the Church said that property was theft many centuries before Proudhon was born.

1911 Catholic Encycl. XI. 313/1 It is not true that the doctrine of original sin does not appear in the works of the pre-Augustinian Fathers.

1984 Canad. Lit. Spring 196 Although I would take issue with the early Church Fathers on many things, I would agree that despair is..one of the deadly sins.

2000 N. Russell Cyril of Alexandria (front matter) The Greek and Latin fathers of the Church are central to the creation of Christian doctrine.

2001 Church Times 15 June 16/1 A Patristic scholar with a particular interest in St Gregory of Nyssa and the Cappadocian Fathers.

c. U.S. Frequently with capital initial. An American statesman of the Revolutionary period, esp. any of those involved in framing the constitution. Also (in Father of the Country and similar phrases): spec. George Washington. Cf. founding father at founding adj.

ΚΠ

1787 H. Knox Let. 19 Mar. in G. Washington Writings (1891) XI. 123 The glorious republican epithet, The Father of your Country.

1810 Port Folio Feb. 86 How few of the fathers of the constitution..now participate in her employments and public functions!

1864 G. Benis Precedents of Amer. Neutrality 58 The Father of his Country [sc. Washington] was urging upon his countrymen a policy of peace and non-entanglement with foreign complications.

1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xli. 105 Much less sought after and prized than in ‘the days of the Fathers’.

1929 N.Y. Times 3 Mar. ix. 15/2 They knew nothing of the story of the Father of the American Republic, or of the little mound of brick and mortar a stone's throw away that marked the spot where he was born.

1943 E. M. R. von Kuehnelt-Leddihn Menace of Herd 11 Our Constitutional fathers, familiar with the strength and weakness of both autocracy and democracy,..defined a representative republican form of government.

1970 G. Scott-Heron Vulture 136 America has always been known as the land of the free whites and the home of the slave. One of the greatest perpetuators of this type of hypocrisy was the Father of the country, George Washington.

2004 J. Kinory & I. van Dam tr. L. Gerken Constit. Liberty in Open Econ. 195 In all probability, the fathers of the constitution would have acted no differently if they had decided to provide for the possibility of changing the constitution..via a referendum.

a. Something which gives rise to or produces another thing. Also: something which protects or nurtures another thing. Cf. parent n. 3, child n. 14b.In quot. OE as part of a riddle (describing the operation of a double bellows, where one half inflates the other) using anthropomorphic imagery.See also the wish is father to the thought at Phrases 2b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun]

welleOE

mothereOE

ordeOE

wellspringeOE

fathereOE

headeOE

oreOE

wellspringOE

rootc1175

morea1200

beginningc1200

head wella1325

sourcec1374

principlea1382

risinga1382

springinga1382

fountain14..

springerc1410

nativity?a1425

racinea1425

spring1435

headspring?a1439

seminaryc1440

originationc1443

spring wellc1450

sourdre1477

primordialc1487

naissance1490

wellhead?1492

offspringa1500

conduit-head1517

damc1540

springhead1547

principium1550

mint1555

principal1555

centre1557

head fountain1563

parentage1581

rise1589

spawna1591

fount1594

parent1597

taproot1601

origin1604

fountainhead1606

radix1607

springa1616

abundary1622

rist1622

primitive1628

primary1632

land-spring1642

extraction1655

upstart1669

progenerator1692

fontala1711

well-eye1826

first birth1838

ancestry1880

Quelle1893

eOE Metrical Dialogue of Solomon & Saturn (Corpus Cambr. 422) ii. 448 Hwæt witeð us wyrd seo swiðe..frumscylda gehwæs fæder and modor, deaðes dohtor?

OE Riddle 37 8 Ne swylteð he symle, þonne syllan sceal innað þam oþrum..; he sunu wyrceð, bið him sylfa fæder.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. i. 883 Aristotil seiþ þat þe erþe is moder and þe sonne fader of treen.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 74^v So shal the branch [when grafted] liue being both nourished by his olde mother, and his newe father.

1593 A. Chute Beawtie Dishonoured 37 Ah death old father of our common end.

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. i. 8 Euery minute now Should be the father of some Stratagem.

1604 King James VI & I Counterblaste to Tobacco sig. B3 The foure Complexions, (whose fathers are the foure Elements).

1668 Duchess of Newcastle Presence 117 in Plays For Time and Experience is the Father and Mother of Wisdom.

1786 J. E. Smith tr. C. Linnaeus Diss. Sexes Plants 53 in tr. C. Linnaeus Refl. Study Nature It is easily propagated by cuttings, and agrees perfectly with its mother in fructification, and with its father in leaves.

1911 Gas Engine Aug. 419/2 The designer is father to the blue print—the blue print is father to the pattern—and the pattern is father to the casting.

1995 B. W. Piasecki Corporate Environmental Strategy iv. 48 Albert Greenstein, an ARCO public relations executive, described the results as follows: ‘If necessity is the mother of invention, the threat of regulation is often its father.’

b. Computing. The second most recent, or second most frequently updated, backup of some data. Often attributive, as father tape. Cf. grandfather n. 6, son n.¹ 10.

ΘΚΠ

society > computing and information technology > hardware > secondary storage > [noun] > magnetic > tape drive > generations of tape

father1961

grandfather1961

son1961

1961 Commerc. Law Jrnl. 66 377/1 You will hear about ‘grandfather’, ‘father’, and ‘son’ tapes, or ‘first’, ‘second’, and ‘third’ generation tapes.

1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xvi. 265 The new master tape (‘son’) is retained till the next updating run in which it serves as the old master tape (‘father’).

1993 PC Mag. 26 Oct. (Network Ed. Suppl.) 26/3 With GFS [sc. Grandfather/Father/Son] rotation,..the daily backup is done on the son, the monthly backup is done on the father, and the weekly backup is done on the grandfather.

2005 A. Calder Business Guide Information Security 134 A backup cycle usually works on a grandfather, father, son basis.

10. At Cambridge, and occasionally Oxford, University: a college officer who accompanies students at an examination, or who presents them at a degree ceremony. Cf. praelector n. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > education > member of university > [noun] > fellow

fellowc1405

father?c1550

student1589

by-fellow1856

idle-fellow1919

?c1550 Stokys's Bk. in G. Peacock Observ. Statutes Univ. Cambr. (1841) App. p. vi The Father shall enter hys commendacions of hys chyldren.

1762 J. Woodforde Diary 2 Mar. in Woodforde at Oxf. (1969) 75 We went up into the School of Languages..where I answer'd under —— Batchelor, Mr. Adams being so good as to oppose me, Oglander Senr. was my Father, and I was his Son.

1772 J. Jebb Remarks Present Mode Educ. 20 The students enter..preceded by a Master of Arts..who on this occasion is called the Father of the College to which he belongs.

1803 Gradus ad Cantabrigiam Father, one of the Fellows of a College..who..attends all the examinations for Bachelor's Degree, to see that..justice is done to the men of his own College.

1884 C. Dickens, Jr. Dict. Univ. Cambr. 34 Then the Senior Wrangler..is presented to the Vice-Chancellor by his Father (or Prælector) and receives his degree on his knees.

2004 Straits Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 12 Aug. Dr Marrian, who is Praelector, or Father of the college, was his assigned tutor.

Phrases

P1. Designations of biblical or ecclesiastical origin.

a. the Father of Lights and variants: God. [After post-classical Latin pater luminum (Vulgate), itself after Hellenistic Greek πατὴρ τῶν ϕώτων (New Testament), both in James 1:17 (see quot. c1384).]

ΚΠ

OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 28 Omne donum perfectum de sursum est descendens a patre luminum : ælc geafo wisfæst ufa is ofdune stigende from feder lehta.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) James i. 17 Ech best thing ȝouun, and al parfijt ȝift is fro aboue, comynge doun of the fadir of liȝtis [L. Patre luminum], anentis whom is not ouerchaunginge, nether schadewing of whileness, or tyme.

1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters i. xvii. f. xxi^v/1 Euery good and very perfyte gyfte commeth from aboue descendyng from the father of lyghtys.

1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 195 The light of the same proceeding immediately and fountainously from the Father of Lights.

1753 W. Hopkins Appeal to Common Sense Christian People 178 Join with me in solemn Thanks to the Father of Lights.

1833 J. Montgomery Lect. Poetry & Gen. Lit. vi. 224 No living writer can hope for immortality in its only enviable earthly sense, who does not occupy his talents on subjects..not disreputable to their Author,—the Father of lights!

1876 J. S. Blackie Songs Relig. & Life 68 That first Father of Lights From whom the ray vivific marvellous burst.

1917 Jrnl. Race Devel. 7 279 True reform is deadened. There is no news for a big struggle. There is no upward look to the Father of Lights.

1961 Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 60 625 The Christians, too, saw Jehovah as a bright God, the Father of Lights.

2008 M. Ward Planet Narnia (2010) ii. 28 Since God is the Father of lights, even the dim and guttering lights of paganism could be ascribed ultimately to Him.

b. the father of lies and variants: the Devil. [With allusion to John 8:44: ‘Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.’ (King James Version). Compare post-classical Latin pater mendacii, literally ‘father of the lie’ (4th or 5th century in Augustine).]

ΚΠ

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John (headings to readings) xxiii Diabolum homicidam et mendacii patrem adsignat : diobul monnslaga & leasunges ðone fæder tobecnað.

c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 16 Ȝoure enemye and myne, the fader of lesynge.

1528 W. Tyndale Obed. Christen Man f. cxij Now ye preach no thinge but lyes, and therfore are of the devyll the father of al lyes and of him are ye sent.

1624 R. Montagu Gagg for New Gospell? xxvi. 204 Thou Lyer, and misborne Elfe of the Father of lies.

1749 Counter-apol. 19 I should suspect him for a cheat; and tell him to his face, that he was rather an emissary of the father of lies than an angel from Heaven.

1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan II. 5 The Father of Lies himself.

1866 J. E. Cooke Surry of Eagle's-nest cxx. 435 The father of lies himself might have envied the consummate skill of the secret enemy who concocted this story.

1919 Hispanic Amer. Hist. Rev. 2 260 Priests and laymen alike regarded the native beliefs with frank contempt, and..did not hesitate to attribute them to the father of lies.

1962 M. Trevor Newman 201 It seemed worse than useless to attempt to fight the father of lies with comforting generalizations.

2009 A. V. Smithson Facedown 290 As the father of lies, the enemy continued his prodding me, keeping me from victory over sin.

c. the father of (the) faith and variants.

†(a) St Peter. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 1904 Whan Peter, fader of the feith, At domesdai schal with him bringe Judeam, which thurgh his prechinge He wan.

(b) The biblical patriarch Abraham. Cf. the father of the faithful at Phrases 1d.

ΚΠ

1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. vi. xix. f. liiii^v Quhen our Lord was to destroy the forsaid citeis he reuelit the same destructioun to Abraham, the first father of our faith.

1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. aiij^v Abraham the father of fayth.

1719 Evening-office of Church (ed. 2) 50/2 The great Father of our Faith, Abraham, offer'd a Holocaust on the Altar for his Son.

1867 T. Crosse Lect. Early Script. (ed. 2) xi. 270 Here Abraham, the father of faith,..is described as tempted through the agency of the woman.

1977 G. Gutiérrez in G. Gutiérrez et al. Liberation & Change i. iii. 91 Him who Paul calls the father of the faith.

2006 Times 11 Nov. 70/4 A fellow chaplain reminded me that Abraham, the father of faith, was told by God that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky.

d. the father of the faithful and variants: the biblical patriarch Abraham. Cf. Phrases 1c(b). [After post-classical Latin pater omnium credentium (Vulgate) and its model ancient Greek πατήρ πάντων τῶν πιστευόντων (New Testament).]

ΚΠ

1550 J. Hooper in tr. Tertullian Seconde Bk. vnto his Wyf To Rdr. sig. Av Therfore Abraham the father of the faythfulles bounde his seruaunte by an othe that he shoulde not take any of the doughters of Canaan for hys sonne Isaac.

1652 T. Hodges Hoary Head Crowned Ep. Ded. 3 Blessed Abraham the father of the faithfull.

1742 G. Whitefield Nine Serm. iv. 94 Abraham..shone with such distinguished Lustre, that he was called the Friend of God, the Father of the Faithful.

1838 Evangelical Mag. Aug. 388/2 Like the father of the faithful, he commanded his children and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord.

1863 Old Guard Jan. 11/1 You, Gentlemen, say that slavery is a sin. Abraham, ‘the father of the faithful’, had a thousand slaves.

1910 Biblical World 36 310 The sheik of the desert who became the pattern of faith and the Father of the Faithful is not the only man that has had an open mind.

2009 E. Cripe Not ashamed of Gospel x. 83 Abraham is the father of the Nation of Israel, but he is also the father of the Faithful.

P2.

a. In various proverbial phrases.

ΚΠ

OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) lvi. 334 Filius sapiens letificat patrem filius stultus mestitia est matris suę : sunu wis geblissað fæder bearn stunt unrotnyss ys moder his.

c1250 Bracton's Note Bk. (1887) III. 501 Fader to þe bowe, þe sune to þe lowe.

a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 130 Fader be þu wid child, & be þu wuidewis [emended in ed. to widewis] frend.

c1450 MS Douce 52 in Festschrift zum XII. Neuphilologentage (1906) 55 (MED) Be the fadur what he be, Welle is the chylde to the.

c1450 MS Douce 52 in Festschrift zum XII. Neuphilologentage (1906) 54 (MED) Childe is pigge, and fader is the flicche.

c1475 Proverbs (Rawl. D.328) in Mod. Philol. (1940) 38 124 (MED) Sepe probat natus de qua sit stirpe creatus: Sygge fader, sygge sonne.

a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xciv. §10. 342 Ill sunnys folous ill fadirs.

1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 3rd Serm. sig. Ji Happye is the chylde, whose father goeth to the deuyl.

1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 400 The Father to the Boughe, The Sonne to the Ploughe.

1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlv. 513 This is it which some vtter in a prouerbe: That he that will plant his father must cut off his head.

1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 239 He will be a wise child that knows his right father.

?1796 Female Char. Vindicated 10 A Father's a Father, till he gets a new wife, And a Mother's a Mother, all the days of her life.

1823 J. Collins Dict. Spanish Prov. 45 To a hoarding father succeeds an extravagant son.

1872 R. M. Ballantyne Norsemen in West ii. 21 You know the saying, A dutiful son makes a glad father.

1880 J. De Finod tr. Thousand Flashes French Wit 107 A father is a banker given by nature.

1922 D. E. Marvin Antiq. Prov. 63 If you wish to know a father observe his son.

1992 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 30 July 2 When you follow the path of your father, you learn to walk like him.

b. Proverb. the wish is father to the thought: an unexpressed desire gives rise to a thought or resolution.

ΚΠ

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 221 Thy wish was father (Harry,) to that thought.

1791 G. Rous Thoughts on Govt. (ed. 2) 17 I will not say, Edmund, thy wish is father to that thought!

1859 C. Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 7 He..too often makes the wish father to the thought.

1934 C. S. Churchill Let. 22 Dec. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) xvi. 365 I can't think how I read it wrong—I suppose the wish being father to the thought.

2009 Times 4 Feb. 11/1 In a Great Leap Forward, the wish is father to the thought.

c. Proverb. the child is father of (also to) the man and variants: childhood experience determines adult character or behaviour.

ΚΠ

1807 W. Wordsworth Poems II. 44 The Child is Father of the Man.

1824 Examiner 11 June 433/1 Mr. Canning was the cleverest boy at Eton: he is, perhaps, the cleverest man in the House of Commons..in the sense in which, according to Mr. Wordsworth, ‘the child is father to the man’.

a1855 C. Brontë Professor (1857) I. vii. 130 ‘The boy is father to the man,’ it is said; and so I often thought when I looked at my boys and remembered the political history of their ancestors.

1912 Times 25 July 8/1 Give a child a toy which it especially likes. Its first question is, ‘Is it my very own?’—and the child is father of the man.

1968 Illustr. London News 7 Dec. 32/3 This film is enormously complicated.., but all it seems to be saying is that the child is father of the man.

2001 New Jersey Countryside Autumn 76 New Jersey's private country day schools all acknowledge along with poet William Wordsworth that the ‘Child is father of the man’.

P3. to be gathered to one's fathers (also formerly †to be put to one's fathers, †to be laid unto one's fathers, †to sleep with one's fathers): to be dead and buried. [In to be gathered to one's fathers, to be put to one's fathers, and to be laid unto one's fathers ultimately after Hebrew ne'ĕspū 'el-'ăḇōṯāw they were gathered to their fathers (Judges 2:10); in to sleep with one's fathers ultimately after Hebrew yiškaḇ ʿim-'ăḇōṯāw he slept with his fathers (frequently in the books of Kings and Chronicles, indicating the death of a king of Israel or Judah).]

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > [verb (intransitive)] > be dead

sleepc950

restOE

liea1000

to be deadc1000

to lie lowa1275

layc1300

to be gathered to one's fathersa1382

to be gathered to one's fathers1382

to sup with our Saviour, with Our (the) Lord, with (Jesus) Christa1400

repose1586

slumber1594

to sup in heaven or hell1642

to turn one's toes up to the daisies1842

to be out of the way1881

to push up daisiesa1918

to have had it1942

RIP1962

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Judges ii. 10 Al þat generacion is gedered to here faders [L. congregata est ad patres suos].

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) 3 Kings i. 21 Whan my lord kyng schal slepe with his fadris [L. cum dormierit..cum patribus suis].

c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 34 (MED) He decessid and was put to his fadres.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts xiii. f. li Dauid (after he had in his tyme fulfilled ye will of god) fell on sleape, & was laid vnto his fathers.

1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answer Catholike English-man (new ed.) 95 The Reader may iudge, how hee would vse his Maiesties owne fame if hee were gathered to his Fathers.

1698 M. Pix Deceiver Deceived iii. 24 In a months time he went to sleep with his Fathers.

a1702 N. Taylor Pract. Disc. (1703) 207 Other Calamities which it may be will fall upon us before we are gathered to our Fathers.

1776 R. Winter Serm. Death J. Winter 19 Even a David..must fall asleep, and be laid to his fathers.

1832 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 31 843 He salivates for some threescore years,..and is gathered to his fathers, to spit no more.

1880 Harper's Mag. July 186/2 Finally La Lande died in the odor of sanctity, and was gathered to his fathers.

a1902 S. Butler Way of All Flesh (1903) iii. 12 About one year after his wife's death Mr Pontifex also was gathered to his fathers.

1944 G. Heyer Friday's Child xx. 234 The pug, not being as yet gathered to its fathers, was her particular charge.

2015 Tampa Bay (Florida) Times (Nexis) 11 Oct. (Obituaries) 8 b DeCubellis, Germain L. ‘Jerry’ of Tampa, died and was gathered to his fathers on October 3, 2015.

P4.

father of the bride n. the father of a bride, esp. on the day of her wedding; now also as a modifier. Sometimes abbreviated FOTB (also FOB).In early use not a fixed phrase.

ΚΠ

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxiviij The Marques of Suffolke..espoused the said Ladie, in the churche of sainct Martyns. At whiche mariage were present, the father and mother of the bride.

1818 Lit. Gaz. 4 Apr. 220/1 When they arrive at the house of the bride, the father of the bridegroom asks the father of the bride..if he will permit his daughter to join the party.

1910 Salt Lake Tribune 19 June (Miscellaneous section) 3/5 The father of the bride usually gives away his daughter unless physically unable to do so, when the next nearest masculine relative performs the office.

2012 Irish Daily Mail (Nexis) 4 Aug. We married in 2009, with Keith making a brilliant father-of-the bride speech that had everyone laughing and crying.

P5. Father of waters (also rivers, floods): (a name for) a large or important river, esp. (U.S.) the Mississippi. Cf. sense 6b. [With quots. 1600, 1669, and perhaps also quot. 1759, compare Ge'ez Abawi , the name of the Blue Nile (15th century; apparently a derivative of 'ab father: see Abuna n.).

The name of the Mississippi River, pace quot. 1761, ultimately derives < Old Ottawa missisipi, literally ‘large river’.]

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > specific rivers > [noun]

Thamesc893

Father of waters (also rivers, floods)1567

muddy1825

Old Man River1902

1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. f. 227 Refreshed by the beautifull hande of Erydan, sometyme called the father of ryuers [Fr. pere des fleuues], and nowe termed by the title of Po.

1600 J. Pory tr. G. Botero in Gen. Descr. Afr. 13 in tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. The Abassins haue no great knowledge of Nilus by reason of the mountaines which deuide them from it; for which cause they call Abagni the father of riuers [It. chiamano l'Abagni padre dell'acque].

1669 P. Wyche tr. J. Lobo Short Relation Nile 8 The River Nile, by the natives called Abani [Port. Abbaui] (i.e.) the Father of Waters.

1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 10 Thou too, great Father of the British Floods!

1759 S. Johnson Prince of Abissinia I. i. 2 The mighty emperour, in whose dominions the Father of waters begins his course.

1761 London Mag. Mar. 120/2 It [sc. the Mississippi] takes its name from an Indian word which means, The antient Father of Rivers.

1818 H. B. Fearon Sketches Amer. 257 The facilities of export afforded by those ‘fathers of waters’, the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri.

1836 J. Hall Statistics of West iii. 46 The traveler is struck with the magnitude..of the stream which has been so appropriately called, the Father of waters.

1857 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. 8 193 I was..more than a hundred miles on the sunset side of the father of floods.

1865 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? II. xxix. 228 Who has ever been through Basle, and not stood..looking down upon the father of waters?

1917 J. F. Daly Life A. Daly 64 A voyage down the Father of Waters in war times.

1949 Times-Picayune (New Orleans) 27 Mar. 7 With summer approaching, the unique craft will start slipping down Father of Waters.

2003 T. Belue Hunters of Kentucky 1 Onward, southwesterly, churned Speleawee-theepee..to its spill into the Father of Waters roiling brown and muddy.

P6.

Father of the House n. the oldest member of a legislative assembly; (British) a title given to the member of the House of Commons with the longest continuous service.

ΚΠ

1821 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 9 Apr. Thomas Newton is re-elected a member of the House of Representatives. He is now the oldest member of the House, who is by courtesy called the Father of the House.

1837 New Eng. Farmer 6 Sept. 65/1 Were he [sc. Mr Coke of Norfolk, England] still a member [of Parliament], which his age (82) now prevents, he would be by many years the ‘Father of the House’.

1954 Househ. Guide & Almanac (News of World) 304/1 It is a common misconception that the ‘Father of the House’ is the oldest member. The title is reserved for that Member with the longest unbroken service.

1994 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 27 Mar. 36 Edward Heath is the Father of the House and remains unmesmerized by Baroness Thatcher.

2010 Sun (Nexis) 20 May 13 The Father of the House—that's the longest-serving MP, in this case a chap who's been there since 945 bc.

P7. like a father: (with reference to speech) in an authoritative or severe manner; strictly. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > paternalism > [phrase]

like a father1830

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > fatherhood > [adverb]

fatherlyOE

fatherlike?a1513

like a father1830

1830 J. K. Paulding Chron. Gotham 64 If she wont listen to reason, I will talk to her like a father.

1872 J. P. Simpson World & Stage i. 7 I'll see her again—speak to her like a father.

1926 F. W. Crofts Inspector French & Cheyne Myst. vi. 74 James talked to him like a father and he seemed to swallow it all down.

1946 Signalman's Jrnl. Feb. 72/3 It is going to mean that the Parent–Teachers Associations or similar outfits should check up on these teachers and talk to them like a father.

P8. colloquial (originally Irish English). the father and mother of a —— and variants: the largest, most notable, or most severe example of (something). Also (esp. Australian and New Zealand) the father of a ——. Cf. mother n.¹ Compounds 6b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > greatly or very much [phrase] > extremely > remarkable or extraordinary

the father and mother of a ——1824

the father of a ——1824

1824 W. Cobbett in Spirit of Eng. Mag. (Boston, Mass.) 15 Dec. 218/1 Did not the Cochranes and Cockburns assist to gain for us that which Paddy would call ‘father of a beating’?

1892 R. Kipling in Two Tales 24 Dec. 57 It would ha' bin my duty..to give you the father an' mother av a beltin.

1908 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Further Experiences Irish R.M. viii. 197 There's been the father and mother of a row down there between old Sir Thomas and Hackett.

1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams ii. xi. 216 The local side got the father of a hiding.

1954 G. Smith Flaw in Crystal 139 They've allowed me to arrange the father and mother of a credit overdraft with the banks.

1960 Punch 13 July 47/2 The stage is set for the father and mother of a row.

2013 Express (Nexis) 30 Aug. 15 One injured rambler and he could be facing the father and mother of all lawsuits.

P9. Father of the Chapel: see chapel n. 10b; dollar of the fathers: see dollar n. 5; Great White Father: see great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1e. like father like son: see like adj., adv., conj., and prep. Phrases 6b(b); the father of mischief: see mischief n. Phrases 2e; son-before-the-father: see son n.¹ Phrases 1e.

Compounds

C1.

(a) General attributive and appositive, as father fool, father God, father symbol, father tree, etc.

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xx. 337 Se fæder is god of nanum gode, se sunu is god of þam fæder gode.

?a1430 T. Hoccleve Mother of God l. 114 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 55 The fadir god gan edifie (By his sone oonlygeten specially) To him an hows.

1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters iv. f. cxix/2 An olde sage father fole in Kent.

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 458 That gray iniquity, that father ruffian .

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 454 From fruitfull Loignes of one old Father-stock.

1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 5 Fruites that..have a vertue given..to draw their Father-Tree to heav'n.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. i. 1 The first and father cause of Common Error.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vii. xiii. 366 A like conceit there passeth of Melasigenes, alias Homer, the father Poet, that he pined away upon the Riddle of the fishermen.

1721 R. Samber tr. A. de La Motte 100 New Court Fables i. ii. 82 In this Calamity, what alas! what can the Father Bird [Fr. le Pere oiseau] now do?

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxix. 119 The Father-ruffian of the band.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Will Waterproof's Monologue in Poems (new ed.) II. 182 Such [port] whose father-grape grew fat On Lusitanian summers.

1843 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 637 Love, only Love, can guide the creature Up to the Father-fount of Nature.

1845 C. Norton Child of Islands 132 The Father-widower..Strokes down his youngest child's long silken hair.

1862 H. Marryat One Year in Sweden I. 459 The father-dog was kept tame.

1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust (Boston ed.) II. iii. 283 The child in that bright season gaineth The father-strength.

1875 W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth (rev. ed.) 213 Christians have been made sons of such a Father-God.

1913 N. Y. State Hospitals Bull. (State Hospital Commission) 6 243 His defiance of his father is perhaps best expressed in his remarks about the sun (an archaic father symbol).

1920 T. P. Nunn Education xii. 146 The mother-sentiment appears, to be followed..by the father-sentiment.

1922 Internat. Jrnl. Psycho-anal. 3 206 A totem is, of course, as we know from Freud, a father-symbol.

2004 S. E. Linville Hist. Films, Women & Freud's Uncanny i. 38 This father-widower, haunted by the memory of his dead wife.

2010 N. Smith in P. Hardie & H. Moore Classical Literary Careers xii. 226 Marvell..did not murder his father poets in order to find his own voice so much as echo them within his own voice.

2011 T. Patterson Home Winemaking for Dummies ii. 31 This relative of Cabernet Sauvignon (genetically, Cabernet Franc is the father grape) has a similar flavor profile.

(b) Appositive (in sense 7).

father abbot n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbot > [noun]

abboteOE

fatherOE

Pater Abbasc1400

father abbot1479

abbas1550

abbot-presbyter1641

abbate1750

1479 Earl Rivers tr. Cordyal (Caxton) ii. iii His brethren seyng hym so liyng, pusshed hym, seiyng vnto hym. Fadre abbot where art thou.

1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. xi. 308 The ceremony began with the exhortation of the Father-Abbot.

2000 Gloucester Citizen (Nexis) 26 Jan. 6 The Father Abbot of Prinknash community welcomed the congregation to a service of evening prayer.

father confessor n. [compare post-classical Latin pater confessionum, literally ‘father of confessions’ (12th century in a British source)]

ΚΠ

1541 R. Whitford Dyuers Holy Instrucyons & Teachynges xx. f. 47 Our reuerende father confessour mayster Iohn Fewterer.

1756 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. I. 239 The admonitions of his father-confessor [Ger. Beichtvaters] might concur.

2007 A. Flacco Last Nightingale vi. 61 Moses' line of work made him the custodian of a world of secrets, rather like a father confessor.

father director n. [director n. 1d]

ΚΠ

1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks v. 234 The Father Director of the Confraternity.

1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. x. 295 He, who appeared to be the Father-director of the pilgrimage.

2011 P. McNamara Spirit Possession & Exorcism I. ix. 131 Sister Jeanne confessed to the father director of the convent, a Father Mignon, that she had been bewitched by Grandier.

father Jesuit n.

ΚΠ

1583 W. Travers Answer Supplicatorie Epist. 34 Some of them annoynted Priestes, and father Iesuites.

1630 J. Wadsworth Eng. Spanish Pilgrime (new ed.) iii. 14 Obedience the Students are bound to bestow vpon Father Iesuites.

2006 A. R. Enriquez Samboangan iii. v. 103 The good Father Jesuit had become nervous and jittery.

father-preacher n.

ΚΠ

1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks vi. 277 The one half of the Alms that are gathered in the Church, as well as at the Church-Door, during the Sermon, belongs to the Father-Preacher.

1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund II. iv. ii. 21 There had died lately in the convent a jubilated father preacher, a man of great consideration in the order.

2010 W. Brueggemann Word Militant p. ix I have been thinking about preaching since I first sat and listened to my father-preacher.

father saint n.

ΚΠ

1633 T. Bancroft Gluttons Feauer sig. F^v No more, reply'd the Father-saint againe.

1842 A. T. de Vere Song of Faith 108 Hear holy lessons from the Father-Saints.

1996 J. R. Gillis World of Their Own Making (1997) ii. 29 The mother and father saints who populated the late medieval Catholic imagination.

b. Objective.

father slayer n. [after classical Latin patricīda patricide n.² and parricīda parricide n.¹; compare Old English fæderslaga]

ΚΠ

a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 47^v Paricida, a fadur sleer.

?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 43^v A fadyr slaer, patricida.

1854 J. A. Heraud Videna v. iii. 78 I marvel at ye, ye can plead for him, The brother-slayer and the father-slayer.

2013 T. Stoller Tales of Tricycle Theatre 35 Ken, the supposed father slayer, finds his way to a rum shop where he seeks refuge.

c. Preceding and in apposition to other familial terms, forming attributive phrases with the sense ‘of or relating to both persons’, as father–child, father–daughter, father–son.

ΚΠ

1904 H. W. Dresser Power of Silence (rev. ed.) vi. 136 Only by taking account of both factors may one be true to the Father-son relationship.

1949 M. Mead Male & Female xvi. 326 A father-daughter household is not as disapproved [etc.].

1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day vii. 142 Pathetic attempts to revive the old father-child relationship.

1989 E. Menaker Misplaced Loyalties (1995) 32 The strength of the father-daughter bond precluded the existence of any other significant relationship with a man.

2012 Herald-Sun (Durham, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 16 June b1 Strong father-child relationships come from dads being around for their kids.

C2.

† father-better adj. Scottish Obsolete better than one's father. [Compare earlier father-waur adj., and also Old Icelandic fǫður-betringr (noun) a man who is better than his father.]

ΚΠ

1645 R. Baillie Let. 1 July (1841) II. 295 Her glowming sonne, whom I pray God to bless, and make father-better.

1705 A. Symson Tripatriarchicon 44 Though therefore some..Are Father-worse, yet, some are Father-better.

† Father-breeder n. Obsolete rare a person who counterfeits writings of the Christian Fathers (see sense 8b); = Father-forger n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > faking of documents > [noun] > forger, falsifier > of writings of the fathers

Father-breeder1624

Father-forger1624

1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 103 Under his name our Popish Father-breeders have of late set out a many of Sermons and Treatises.

Father Christmas n. (also †old Father Christmas) chiefly British a personification of Christmas, now conventionally pictured as a benevolent old man with a long white beard and red clothes trimmed with white fur, who brings presents for children on the night before Christmas Day.Father Christmas is now largely synonymous with the figure of Santa Claus (see Santa Claus n. a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > imaginary persons or creatures > Father Christmas

Father Christmas1646

Santa1773

Kris Kringle1830

1646 Arraignm. Christmas 2 Honest Crier, I know thou knewest old Father Christmas; I am sent to thee from an honest scholler of Oxford..to cry Christmas, for they hear that he is gone from hence, and that we have lost the poor old man.

1652 J. Taylor Christmas In & Out 14 Alas Father Christmas (quoth he) our high and mighty Ale..is lately strook into a deep consumption.

1711 W. Oldisworth Dial. Timothy & Philatheus III. 140 We may look long enough e'er a Canon will be made against Plumb-broth and Porridge..because it was ever pour'd out in Sacrifice to old Father Christmas.

1773 London Mag. 42 App. 654/2 Old father Christmas now in all his glory, Begs with kind hearts, you'll listen to his story.

1813 F. Douce tr. in H. Ellis Brand's Observ. Pop. Antiq. (rev. ed.) I. 373 Lordings, in these realms of pleasure Father Christmas yearly dwells.

1860 Christmas Tree 190 Hail, Father Christmas! Come, and bring Thine ancient merriment and glee.

1864 R. Chambers Bk. of Days II. 740/2 Old Father Christmas, bearing, as emblematic devices, the holly bough, wassail-bowl, &c.

1919 Punch 24 Dec. 538 Uncle James (who after hours of making up rather fancies himself as Father Christmas).

1927 A. A. Milne Now we are Six 4 And oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all, Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball!

1992 R. Graef Living Dangerously i. 39 I felt badly at having dented his excitement, as though I'd told him there was no Father Christmas.

2009 N. Devon Jrnl. (Nexis) 23 Dec. 31 You couldn't have everything you asked for, darling. How would Father Christmas fit it all down the chimney?

father complex n. [after German Vaterkomplex (1909 or earlier in Freud)] Psychology a complex (complex n. 3) which centres on a person's father.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > with father

father complex1910

father fixation1916

1910 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 21 602 It may, perhaps, be surprising to some readers that nothing has been said about any of the specifically Freudian complexes, such as the wish-complex, the sexual-complex, or the father-complex.

1922 D. H. Lawrence England my England 20 Let the psychoanalysts talk about father complex. It is just a word invented.

1950 J. Strachey tr. S. Freud Totem & Taboo iv. 143 The same contradictory feelings which we can see at work in the ambivalent father-complexes of our children and of our neurotic patients.

2002 B. Harris Sacred Selfishness xi. 325 In the case of a father complex, a man or woman has trouble believing in his or her own strength, competence, and importance.

father-dust n. rare (chiefly literary) pollen.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [noun] > parts of > stamen or pistil > pollen and related parts

sandarac1623

globulet1671

powder1672

bread1682

farina1721

pollen1723

father-dust1728

rough wax1744

yellow rain1755

dust1776

fovilla1793

anther dust1797

pollen mass1828

pollen tube1830

intextine1835

pollen grain1835

pollen granule1835

exine1839

exintine1839

intine1839

pollinium1849

sulphur shower1854

pollinic mass1857

pollen chamber1863

smoke1868

pollen sac1872

pollinarium1881

sulphur rain1882

pollinic chamber1885

perine1895

pollen content1926

sculpturing1943

monad1947

nexine1948

sexine1948

1728 J. Thomson Spring 27 From Family diffus'd To Family, as flies the Father-Dust, The varied Colours run.

1893 Ann. Rep. Nebraska State Hort. Soc. 125 When the pollen is ripe, ready for proper fertilization, nature places a tiny drop of nectar just at the base of the petals, on which the pollen or father dust is grown.

1945 A. Young Prospect of Flowers xiii. 91 For this refreshment the flower asks no payment; it hopes the insect will not be too tidy at its meal, but smeared with the fertilizing pollen, the ‘Father-Dust’, convey it to another flower of the same kind.

father figure n. [compare German Vaterfigur (1865 or earlier)] a person who is regarded as having some of the characteristics, esp. benevolence or authority, thought to be typical of a father, spec. one who acts as an emotional substitute for a father.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] > father-figure

father figure1916

1916 C. V. Vechten Music & Bad Manners 138 We are all familiar with the Bayreuth version of Wotan in Die Walküre which makes of that tragic father-figure a boisterous, silly old scold.

1957 Ann. Reg. 1956 168 President Eisenhower..was also something of a ‘father figure’ whose personality inspired such confidence as often to serve as a substitute for a policy.

1996 Big Issue 2 Dec. 5/1 Thompson is remembered as a father figure to the young people who flood in to the cardboard city beneath Waterloo's Bullring.

2007 Voice 16 Apr. 30/2 I honestly do feel that my boys are missing out big time on that father figure.

father fixation n. [compare German Vaterfixierung (1922 or earlier in Freud)] Psychology a fixation (fixation n. 3b) on one's father.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > with father

father complex1910

father fixation1916

1916 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 27 380 He preserved his infantile mother-fixation just as Sophie preserved her father-fixation, and therefore each fulfilled the other's ideal.

1939 G. Greene Confidential Agent i. ii. 86 I'm not romantic. This is what's called a father-fixation.

2008 Herald Sun (Austral.) (Nexis) 15 Feb. 5 ‘Since this is partly about sex appeal,’ I began, ‘I think it's important that you pick someone who registers with the many young women who have a father fixation.’

father-fixated adj. Psychology fixated on one's father (see fixate v. 3b).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [adjective] > obsessed with > father

father-fixated1934

1934 Calif. & Western Med. 40 95/1 A father-fixated woman usually finds it much easier to place her confidence in a middle-aged, fatherly appearing male.

1961 Times 20 Sept. 16/5 The father-fixated daughter.

2008 A. Auster & L. Quart Thirtysomething p. xxiii His [sc. Blake Carrington's] daughter, the father-fixated Fallon.

† Father-forger n. Obsolete rare a person who counterfeits writings of the Christian Fathers (see sense 8b); = Father-breeder n.

ΘΚΠ

Father-breeder1624

Father-forger1624

1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 64 Our Popish Father-forgers have set out divers things.

Father General n. (also with lower-case initials) the head of a religious order or community, esp. the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > [noun] > Jesuit

Father General1581

black pope1851

1581 E. Campion in M. Hanmer Great Bragge & Challenge Confuted f. 8 I toke my voyage from Prage to Rome where our sayde Father Generall is alwaye resident.

1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1326/1 Their father generall deliuering them what he hath in office.

1679 I. Bargrave tr. F. Micanzio Exact Discov. Myst. Iniquity 16 All these..do serve as Intelligencers to the Father General.

1762 T. Flloyd tr. N. L. Dufresnoy Chronological Tables I. p. lxvii It happened sometime before, the father-general of the jesuits had obliged him to go into the world.

1885 Franciscan Ann. 9 380 The Father General of the Franciscan Capuchins in the East.

1996 M. D. Russell Sparrow xiii. 114 The Father General..was a man of great spirituality and almost no business sense.

father image n. Psychology = father-imago n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > influential image > of parent > of father

father image1912

father-imago1913

1912 Jrnl. Abnormal Psychol. 7 210 The uncle in the dream probably had a triple determination: first, through a decomposition of the father image as in myth production.

1956 E. L. Mascall Christian Theol. & Nat. Sci. vi. 217 As soon as he [sc. Freud] had convinced himself that the idea of God was the projection of a father-image in a wish-fulfilment.

2002 Jrnl. Palestine Stud. 31 72 So all these are different meanings of power, especially in light of the demolition of the father image in the eyes of the children.

father-imago n. Psychology an imago (imago n. 2) of one's father.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > influential image > of parent > of father

father image1912

father-imago1913

1913 Proc. Amer. Medico-psychol. Assoc. 69th Ann. Meeting 157 But we must remember that we are, in this, dealing with an infantile attachment..and that love, with the attributes which belong to it, is more or less centered upon the father imago.

1943 Horizon Oct. 252 Dramas of the soul which aspired either to destroy or reach beyond the traditional father-imago.

2001 D. Mathers Introd. Meaning & Purpose Analyt. Psychol. 81 A persecuting internal object (father-imago) was projectively identified into men.

† father-queller n. [originally after classical Latin patricīda patricide n.²; compare also classical Latin parricīda parricide n.¹] Obsolete a person who kills a father; a parricide.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > killing > killer for specific reason or type of person > [noun] > of relatives > of parent > of father

father-queller1440

patricide1593

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 145 Fader qwellare, patricida.

1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips f. 22^v A most arrant father queller.

a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 280 They would never endure Father-quellers to rule over them.

father right n. [after German Vaterrecht (1856 or earlier in this sense); compare mother-right n. 2] chiefly Anthropology and Sociology the custom by which descent and inheritance follows the male line in a family or dynasty.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > rule or government of family or tribe > [noun] > patriarchy or patriarchalism

paternity1614

patriarchya1626

patriarchate1727

patriarchalism1841

father-rule1888

father right1899

1899 F. W. Moore tr. L. Gumplowicz Outl. Sociol. i. 53 He [sc. J. Lippert] goes on to show the rising ‘father right’ [Ger. ‘Vaterrecht’].

1907 Folk-lore June 245 The passage from motherright to fatherright.

1955 M. Gluckman Custom & Confl. Afr. iii. 73 The two contrasting types of kinship system, extreme father-right and extreme matriliny, are built up on the same principle: the link of mother to child.

2002 Econ. & Polit. Weekly 20 Apr. 1546/1 The idea of the struggle between the sexes—where the ‘mother right’ eventually ceded to the ‘father right’.

father-rule n. [perhaps after German Vaterherrschaft (1883 or earlier in this sense)] chiefly Anthropology and Sociology the rule of the father of a family as distinguished from the rule of the male relatives of the mother where descent follows the female line; patriarchy.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > rule or government of family or tribe > [noun] > patriarchy or patriarchalism

paternity1614

patriarchya1626

patriarchate1727

patriarchalism1841

father-rule1888

father right1899

1888 Current Lit. Oct. 303/2 The changes relating to property which the establishment of father-rule brought about.

1899 F. W. Moore tr. L. Gumplowicz Outl. Sociol. iii. 112 It is recognized that mother-rule everywhere gave place to father-rule.

2002 R. A. Schoenherr Goodbye Father xiv. 207 As a social institution, father-rule is a massive structure, solidly based on the millennia-deep, worldwide bedrock of patriarchy.

† fathersick adj. [after homesick adj.] Obsolete pining for or missing one's father.

ΚΠ

1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. lix. 281 So father-sick! so family-fond!

1923 L. M. Montgomery Emily of New Moon vi. 60 I guess I'm Fathersick, Aunt Elizabeth. Didn't you feel awfully lonely when your father died?

father-substitute n. [after German Vatersurrogat (see father-surrogate n.)] originally Psychology a person who becomes the object of emotions which are usually directed towards a father; a person who stands in for, or assumes the emotional role of, a father.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] > father-substitute

father-surrogate1916

father-substitute1917

1917 C. R. Payne tr. O. Pfister Psychoanalytic Method x. 250 Heine's distinguished father-substitute [Ger. Vatersurrogat], the uncle,..would have preferred to behave as a stranger toward the poorly clad poet.

1938 F. L. Lucas Delights of Dictatorship ii. 46 The hysteria that can find in the Head of that State [sc. the U.S.S.R.] a dream-husband, a father-substitute,..a God.

1949 E. Coxhead Wind in West vi. 156 He had almost detached himself from Mother... Transference to a father-substitute was plainly the next stage.

2008 J. Updike Widows of Eastwick i. 4 The four stepchildren..she saddled him with couldn't have asked for a calmer, more soothingly taciturn father-substitute.

father-surrogate n. originally Psychology a person who becomes the object of emotions which are usually directed towards a father; a person who stands in for, or assumes the emotional role of, a father; = father-substitute n. [Partly after German Vatersurrogat (1909 in the passage translated in quot. 1916, or earlier), and partly (in later use) after German Vaterersatz (1910 or earlier in Freud).]

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] > father-substitute

father-surrogate1916

father-substitute1917

1916 C. E. Long tr. C. G. Jung Coll. Papers Analyt. Psychol. iii. 162 The sexuality which announced itself so late and so drastically, even here only led to a deteriorated edition of the father-surrogate [Ger. des Vatersurrogates].

1950 J. Strachey tr. S. Freud Totem & Taboo iv. 148 The totem may be the first form of father-surrogate [Ger. die erste Form des Vaterersatzes].

1957 N. Frye Anat. Crit. 165 The fury with which these characters are baited..shows that they are father-surrogates.

2009 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 12 June e10 Gruff, good-hearted Sasaki becomes a sort of father-surrogate to the younger man.

† father-waur adj. Scottish Obsolete worse than one's father; degenerate. [Compare father-better adj., and also Old Icelandic fǫður-verringr (noun) degenerate son.]

ΚΠ

a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Trial of Fox l. 801 in Poems (1981) 34 Ane sone, the quhilk..till his name was callit Father-war.

1581 J. Hamilton Catholik Traictise f. 147^v Luther the eldest sone of sathan..and his sone naturall fatheruar Iohne Caluine.

a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. l. 6669 Think on oure fatheris and thair nobill deidis, And lat ws nocht be cawit fader war.

b. Compounds with simple unmarked genitive father.Compare discussion in etymology section.

† father-brother n. [compare Middle Low German vāderbrōder, German Vaterbruder (beginning of the 16th century)] Obsolete (Scottish in later use) a paternal uncle; cf. father-sister n. and also mother brother n.

ΚΠ

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. xx. 20 He þat gooþ to gedere wiþ þe wife of his fader broþer [L. patrui] or of his vncle & openeþ þe sheenscheep of his kynredene boþe þei shal bere þer synne.

a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. vi. 37 We stand content..That ay remane the chaste Proserpina Within hir fader broderis boundis and ryng.

1609 J. Skene tr. Regiam Majestatem 33 The father brother of the fathers side.

1644 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1872) IV. 34 Mr James Reid..hade caused lay his vmquhill father and..his father brother, vnder the said stane.

1681 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. xxx. §32. 170 Our Custom hath according to the course of the Law of Nature, found the Father to be Heir to his Son, and not the Father-brother, or any of his Descendents.

† father-sister n. [compare Middle Low German vādersüster] Obsolete (Scottish in later use) a paternal aunt; cf. father-brother n. and also mother-sister n. at mother n.¹ Compounds 5a.

ΚΠ

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 399 Nero slouȝ meny noblemen and Livia Octavianus his wif, his owne moder Agrippina, and his fadir suster [L. soror patris sui] and his wif.

1563 in J. S. Clouston Rec. Earldom of Orkney (1914) 13 The..dewiding of thayre fathyre-systyre lands.

1597 J. Skene De Verborum Significatione at Eneya The father sister and her bairnes suld succeede.

c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1851) II. 296 Ye hard befoir..how the Lord Gordoun rode to Lessmoir to viseit his father-sister.

1672 in M. P. Brown Suppl. Dict. Decis. Court of Session (1826) II. 160 At the time of the daughter's decease, the late President, and the relict of William Baillie, being father-brother and father-sister to the daughter, were nearest of kin.

c. Compounds with the marked genitive form father's.

Father's Day n. originally U.S. a day on which fathers are particularly honoured: in North America, South Africa, and Britain, usually the third Sunday in June, in Australia, the first Sunday in September; cf. Mother's Day n. 1.The idea of having a national day on which to honour fathers was first proposed by Mrs. John Bruce Dodd of Spokane, Washington (see, e.g., quot. 1911), although it wasn't widely observed in the United States until the 1930s.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > period > year > [noun] > specific days of the year

Candlemas1014

May Day1267

All Souls' Dayc1300

midsummer evena1400

firstc1400

Beltane1424

midsummer eve1426

quarter day1435

Beltane1456

mid-Sundaya1475

madding-day1568

Lord Mayor's day1591

Barnaby bright1595

Lammas-eve1597

All Saints' Night1607

Handsel Monday1635

distaff's day1648

long Barnabya1657

St. Valentine's eve1671

leet-day1690

All Fools' Day1702

Boxing Day1743

April Fool's Day1748

Royal Oak Day1759

box day1765

Oak-apple Day1802

All Souls' Eve1805

mischief night1830

Shick-shack Day1847

chalk-back day1851

call night1864

Nut-Monday1867

Arbor Day1872

April Fool's1873

Labour Day1884

Martinmas Sunday1885

call day1886

Samhain1888

Juneteenth1890

Mother's Day1890

Father's Day1908

Thinking Day1927

Punkie night1931

Tweede Nuwejaar1947

1908 Boston Daily Globe 19 May 10/3 Why doesn't somebody suggest the idea of having a ‘Fathers' day’, when everybody in the country shall wear a modest violet in honor of poor Father?

1911 Med. Sentinel May 275 The churches of Spokane, at the suggestion of Mrs. John Bruce Dodd, of that city, have appointed the third Sunday of every June as ‘Fathers Day’.

1936 N.Y. Times 14 June f9/4 Last year the promotion of Father's Day alone was credited with jumping sales volume on an average of about 35 per cent over the preceding week.

1963 New Yorker 15 June 82 What an inspired idea for Father's Day!

2001 Independent 13 June ii. 7/2 We all know the items that get..dusted down again for Father's Day. Yes: gardening gloves, slippers, home-brewing kits and novelty golf memorabilia.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	father
释义	fathern. Brit. /ˈfɑːðə/, U.S. /ˈfɑðər/ Forms: early Old English feadur (Mercian, genitive), early Old English feadrum (Mercian, dative plural), early Old English feodrum (Mercian, dative plural), Old English fadero (Northumbrian, nominative plural), Old English fador (chiefly Northumbrian), Old English fadr- (non-West Saxon, inflected form), Old English fadur (Northumbrian, genitive), Old English fædær (inflected form, rare), Old English faeder (rare), Old English fædes (transmission error), Old English fædir (Northumbrian, dative), Old English faedor- (Northumbrian, inflected form), Old English fædor (Anglian), Old English fædr- (inflected form), Old English fædter (transmission error), Old English fædyr (rare), Old English fæðer (dative, perhaps transmission error), Old English feddr- (rare), Old English fęder, Old English fedr- (Mercian and Kentish), Old English fędr- (inflected form), Old English fedur (rare), Old English fadr- (non-West Saxon, inflected form), Old English–early Middle English fæder, Old English (rare)–early Middle English (chiefly south-west midlands) feder, Old English (rare) Middle English–1500s fader, late Old English fæðeres (genitive, perhaps transmission error), late Old English fieder (Kentish, inflected form), late Old English fedor- (inflected form), late Old English (early Middle English south-west midlands) feader, early Middle English fædeer (genitive, in copy of Old English charter, transmission error), early Middle English faðer (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English uæder (south-west midlands), early Middle English veder (south-west midlands), Middle English faddir, Middle English faddur, Middle English faddyr, Middle English fadere, Middle English faderr ( Ormulum), Middle English fadire, Middle English fadour, Middle English fadr- (inflected form), Middle English fadur, Middle English fadure, Middle English faduree, Middle English fadyre, Middle English faider, Middle English fathir, Middle English fathyr, Middle English faþer, Middle English fayder, Middle English fayer, Middle English ffadere, Middle English ffadur, Middle English ffadyr, Middle English uader, Middle English uadir, Middle English vadir, Middle English 1600s vader, Middle English–1500s ffader, Middle English–1600s fadir, Middle English–1600s fadyr, Middle English–1600s ffather, Middle English–1700s fadre, late Middle English fade (transmission error), late Middle English fadrie (transmission error), late Middle English– father, 1500s fathre, 1500s ffadir, 1500s ffayther, 1500s vather (south-western), 1500s–1600s fathere, 1500s–1600s fatther, 1600s feather, 1600s fother; English regional 1600s– vather (southern), 1700s veather (south-western), 1700s– fadder, 1800s– faather, 1800s– fader, 1800s– fadther (northern), 1800s– fadthre (northern), 1800s– faither, 1800s– fatther, 1800s– fayder (northern), 1800s– fayther, 1800s– feder (northern), 1800s– fether (northern), 1800s– fethur (northern), 1800s– feyther, 1800s– fiather (Wiltshire), 1800s– vaather (southern), 1900s faayther (Lincolnshire), 1900s– faader (southern), 2000s– faathur (south-western); U.S. regional 1800s– fader, 1800s– farruh (southern, in African-American usage), 1900s– farrah (southern, in African-American usage), 1900s– fayther; Scottish pre-1700 fadar, pre-1700 faddir, pre-1700 faddire, pre-1700 faddr- (inflected form), pre-1700 faddyr, pre-1700 faddyre, pre-1700 fadere, pre-1700 fadir, pre-1700 fadire, pre-1700 fadr- (inflected form), pre-1700 fadre, pre-1700 fadyr, pre-1700 fadyre, pre-1700 faiddir, pre-1700 fathar, pre-1700 fathir, pre-1700 fathyr, pre-1700 fathyre, pre-1700 fauder, pre-1700 faydyr, pre-1700 feather, pre-1700 feder, pre-1700 (1700s– northern) fader, pre-1700 1700s– father, pre-1700 (1800s– Shetland) faider, pre-1700 1800s– faither, pre-1700 (1900s– north-eastern) fadder, 1800s fether, 1800s feyther, 1800s– faeder (Shetland), 1800s– fedder (northern), 1900s– faader (Shetland), 1900s– fayder (northern), 1900s– feyder (northern); Irish English (Wexford) 1800s vather. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian fader , feder (West Frisian faar ), Old Dutch fadar , fader (Middle Dutch vāder , Dutch vader ), Old Saxon fadar , fader (Middle Low German vāder ), Old High German fater (Middle High German vater , German Vater ), early Scandinavian (runic: Sweden) faþiR , Old Icelandic faðir , Norn (Orkney) fa , (Shetland) fy (definite form fyrin ), Old Swedish faþir (Swedish fader , (now usually) far ), Old Danish fathær (Danish fader , (now usually) far ), Gothic fadar (in an isolated attestation in Galatians 4:6; the ordinary word is atta : see dad n.¹), < the same Indo-European base as Sanskrit pitṛ , Old Avestan ptar (Younger Avestan pitar ), ancient Greek πατήρ , classical Latin pater ( > Old French paire , pedre , Old French, Middle French pere , French père , Old Occitan, Occitan paire , Catalan pare , Spanish padre , Portuguese pãe , Italian padre ), Oscan patir , Gaulish ater- , atr- , Early Irish athair , Armenian hayr , Tocharian A pācar , Tocharian B pācer , probably originally a derivative (with suffixation) of a nursery word of the pa type (see papa n.²). A similar suffix is found in other Indo-European relationship terms (compare mother n.¹, brother n., daughter n.), although these suffixes may ultimately be of different origin.Form and pronunciation history. Spellings with medial th , reflecting the change of postvocalic /d/ to /ð/ before syllabic /r/ or /ər/ (as in mother n.¹, hither adv., weather n.), are securely attested from c1400. Apparent earlier examples spelt with ð may show transmission errors, either showing a simple error for d (since the letters differ only by a cross-stroke), or reflecting more general confusion of the graphemes ð and d at the point when the former was becoming obsolete. The English regional (northern) instances with -dther may preserve an interim step in the development from /d/ to /ð/ (so E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunciation 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §384 and R. Jordan Handb. der mittelenglischen Grammatik (1934) §298), or may reflect a later development arising from association of the form father with words in which th is the reflex of Old English ð (so J. Wright Eng. Dial.Gram. (1905) 297); compare similar spellings with -dther of e.g. brother n., feather n. Modern regional forms with d either preserve the original consonant or show a subsequent change of /ð/ to /d/ (as e.g. in some northern and north-eastern varieties of Scots). Middle English and early modern English had pronunciations with both a long and a short vowel in the first syllable. The modern standard pronunciation with /ɑː/ shows the result of a more recent (post-Great Vowel Shift) lengthening (as also in e.g. rather adv.), while other pronunciations with a long vowel or diphthong (as /ˈfeːðə(r)/, /ˈfeɪðə(r)/, etc., now only found in regional use) show the operation of the Great Vowel Shift on the reflex of Middle English long ā ; see further discussion in E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunciation 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §§53–5. Inflection. In Old English usually a strong masculine originally belonging to the small class of kinship nouns in –r . An isolated weak genitive plural form is also attested. Original inflection as a kinship term is chiefly reflected in Old English by the frequency of unmarked genitive and dative singular forms (West Saxon fæder ; compare Old Saxon fader , Old High German fater ; genitive and dative singular). Forms with i-mutation of the stem vowel would be expected in the dative and this is apparently attested in Northumbrian feder , but feder otherwise appears chiefly in varieties where feder is also the regular reflex of the nominative (Mercian and Kentish). The early Mercian genitive singular form feadur (with back mutation of the stem vowel) reflects survival of an inherited vowel u in the second syllable in the genitive (frequently assumed to reflect the Indo-European inflectional ending); compare early Northumbrian genitive singular -fadur (in uuldurfadur ; perhaps also later Northumbrian fador , fadur ) and Old Icelandic genitive singular fǫður . Beside these inherited forms, analogical genitive and dative forms are also attested from Old English onwards; compare West Saxon genitive singular fæderes . The unmarked genitive is still frequent in early Middle English, but by the beginning of the early modern English period the s -genitive had become standard. The unmarked genitive survives beyond Middle English in certain Scots compounds (see Compounds 2b). Specific senses. In many senses after corresponding uses, often in post-classical Latin, of classical Latin pater. In sense 3 ultimately after Hebrew 'aḇ forefather, progenitor, extended use of 'aḇ male parent. In spiritual father at sense 7a after post-classical Latin pater spiritualis (see spiritual adj.). 1. a. The male parent of a human being; a man in relation to his child or children. Also occasionally: a male animal in relation to its offspring. (The male counterpart of mother n.¹ 1a.)Father is frequently preceded by a possessive (as ‘my father’) or used as a form of address (where, except occasionally in poetic language, my is commonly omitted); it is also used without possessive (e.g., in quot. 1778) in the manner of a proper name.As a form of address, father now tends to be regarded as formal or archaic, while more colloquial equivalents, esp. dad n.¹, are preferred (see also daddy n., pa n.¹, papa n.², pop n.⁴, etc.).absentee father, baby-father, birth father, expectant father, putative father, Roman father, weekend father, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] fatherOE sirec1250 authora1398 flesh-fathera1400 genitor1447 daddy1523 dad1533 bab1598 patera1600 dada1672 relieving officer1677 papa1681 pappy1722 baba1771 pa1773 governor1783 paw1826 fatherkin1839 pop1840 bap1842 pap1844 da1851 baba1862 puppa1885 pops1893 poppa1897 pot and pan1900 papasana1904 daddy-o1913 bapu1930 baby-father1932 abba1955 birth father1977 OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Deut. (Claud.) xxiv. 16 Ne slea man fæderas for suna gylton, ne suna for fædera gylton. OE tr. Apollonius of Tyre (1958) xvii. 26 Leofa fæder, þu lyfdest me litle ær þæt ic moste gifan Apollonio swa hwæt swa ic wolde. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 165 Ðe sune wussheð þe fader deað ar his dai cume. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 11 Ðanne reiseð his fader him [sc. a lion cub] mit te rem ðat he makeð. c1300 Holy Cross (Laud) 457 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 14 He liet cristny and maken him king of al is fader lond. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 241 A kowherde, sire,..is my kynde fader. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. lxxii. 1225 Þe coldenesse of þe fader and of þe moder haþ maystry in þe mule. 1422 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 305 (MED) My fathers laste wyll was þat hys londes schuld return Vn-to þe eyre Male & neuer to þe female. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4860 Whanne Fader or moder arn in grave. a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 10 Herry Percy, whos fadere was slayne at Yorke felde. 1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxv. f. 237^v Then she sayde vnto him: Father, doubt not at all that my heart shall faile in performance of your commaundement. a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Four Plays in One in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Dddddddd4^v/2 My mother, father, and uncle love me most indulgently, being the onely branch of all their stocks. 1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa ii. ii. 144 Ginetti..proved his Fathers own Son. 1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 137 To send a preventative Medicine to the Father of the Child. 1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea I. xiv. 94 For a son to call his father by that endearing name. 1778 F. Burney Evelina II. xxiii. 222 Father grew quite uneasy, like, for fear of his Lordship's taking offence. 1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone ii. 28 But not for lordship or for land, My Father, do I clasp your knees. 1851 G. H. Miles Governess viii. 99 ‘A good father is a daughter's best safeguard.’ ‘Do you call me a good father?’ he retorted. 1857 W. M. Thackeray in Harper's Mag. Dec. 95/2 Only this mornin', when you went out, my darter says, ‘Father, do you know why you have a black coat on?’ 1884 Ld. Tennyson Becket v. ii. 189 His father gave him to my care. 1934 Esquire Dec. 49/3 Daughter of Mrs. Sally Alden, father unknown! What malarkey! 1958 P. Gibbs Curtains of Yesterday xiv. 130 ‘How do you think I look, Father?’ she cried gaily. ‘Ravishing!’ he said, good-humouredly. 1973 Iowa Rev. 4 52 Course, I get some good natured kidding, now that I'm going to be a father again, at my age. 2004 R. Dawkins Ancestor's Tale 237 My father regaled my little sister and me with bedtime stories. b. A man who undertakes the responsibilities of a parent towards a child; a man who adopts a child as his own; a stepfather. Also: a father-in-law.adoptive father, foster-father, good-father, nourish-father, nurse-father, stepfather, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] > -in law, step, or adoptive fatherOE OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxvii. 5 Ealle..þa þe wydewum syn wraðe æt dome oþþe steopcildum wesen strange fæderas. ?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þe ærcebiscop & te wise men..makede ðat sahte ðat..he helde him for fader & he him for sune, & sib & sæhte sculde ben betwyx heom. 1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iv. i. 2 My Father Capolet will haue it so. View more context for this quotation 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. i. 23 Stand thee by Frier, father..Will you with free and vnconstrained soule Giue me this maide your daughter? View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. ii. 64 If you would not [weep for him], it were a good signe, that I should quickely haue a new Father . View more context for this quotation 1699 J. Potter Archæologiæ Græcæ II. iv. xv. 369 Whoever was thus adopted, was at Athens first made free of the City, and then had his Name enroll'd in the Tribe and Ward of his new Father. 1726 A. Smith Mem. Jonathan Wild 197 To convince my new Father and Mother of the Truth of what I say, as well as my intirely beloved, but much more vertuous Spouse. 1796 N.-Y. Weekly Mag. 6 July 6/2 The elder brother bidding him be a father to his children, and recommended his wife to his protection. 1821 Q. Rev. Jan. 463 His condition was not improved when he was taken from school to thresh in a barn, with his legal father. 1885 Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours Aug. 100/2 I'm your father now, old fellow—think you can learn to call me papa? 1914 Catholic World Feb. 622 ‘He is my father—the only father I have ever known.’ ‘But not the only father you have ever had,’ Wyverne reminded her. 1976 A. Tyler Searching for Caleb xi. 198 ‘Oh, I do hope Father likes the–’ ‘Remind me to ask Father if he wouldn't care to—’ But Duncan was the one Lucy thought of, not her father-in-law at all. 2011 S. Mansfield Where has Oprah taken Us? i. 12 Having no children of his own, he had become her father. †c. A person who assumes the role of father of the bride at a wedding by giving her away at the altar (see to give away 2 at give v. Phrasal verbs 1). Also in father-in-church. Obsolete.nuptial father: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > people connected with wedding > [noun] > one who brings or gives away bride bride-leader1552 father1600 despouser1635 nuptial father1748 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. iv. 15 You must be father to your brothers daughter, And giue her to young Claudio. View more context for this quotation 1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 136 He goes on still and without interruption, till he came to Who giveth this woman to bee married, &c. and holding her by the hand, looking ever when some one or other would doe the office of a Father, to give her. 1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 191 I was Father at the Altar..and gave her away. 1758 C. Lennox Henrietta I. i. ix. 66 The clerk acted as father to the weeping bride. 1832 M. R. Mitford Our Village V. 216 Where's Miss Judith? Go and give her notice that we are coming, and that I have bespoken to be father at the wedding. 1871 Mrs. H. Wood Dene Hollow I. vi. 151 ‘I shall want you to stand father-in-church to this young lady,’ said Geoffrey to the clerk. 1907 O. Harper Fighting Bill vii. 111 The poor girl..allowed herself to be led to her place by Teddy, who was to act as father and give the bride away. d. colloquial and regional. Used by a mother to address or refer to the father of her children. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married man > [noun] > husband > term of address father1855 1855 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. ii. 12 ‘Never mind, Father, never mind!’ said Mrs. Meagles. 1865 W. B. Forfar Kynance Cove vii. 43 ‘That's the way weth fa-ather, always, es n't et, Alice Ann?’ said Mrs. Millar, in a sarcastic tone, turning to her daughter. 1960 C. Watson Bump in Night iv. 40 If anyone was to blame it was Mr Biggadyke. He nearly lost father his job over that business. 2008 D. Sharp Mama does Time xxxv. 239 ‘I'll be back for you in a couple of hours, Mother.’ ‘I'll be right here, Father.’ 2. In theological contexts. a. God considered as a father in relation to Christ, to humankind in general (considered as his offspring, the objects of his loving care, or as owing him obedience and reverence), or to Christians (as his children by adoption or spiritual rebirth). Also occasionally in non-Christian contexts: a god, a male deity. Cf. Our Father n. 1, All-Father n. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > [noun] > according to other attributes horn of salvation (health)c825 fatherOE Our FatherOE leecha1200 searcher of (men's) heartsa1382 untempter1382 headstone of the cornerc1400 Valentinec1450 illuminator1485 sun?1521 righteous maker1535 shepherd1535 verity1535 strengthener1567 gracer1592 heart-searcher1618 heartbreaker1642 sustainera1680 philanthropist1730 the invisible1781 praise1782 All-Father1814 wisdom1855 omniscient1856 engracer1866 inbreather1873 God of the gaps1933 the great —— in the sky1968 the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] godeOE deityc1374 higher powerc1384 princec1384 divinityc1386 governorc1400 powerc1425 numen1495 fear1535 heaven1554 godheada1586 godhood1586 landlorda1635 supreme1643 supercelestial1652 supernal1661 universality1681 father1820 unspeakable1843 Molimo1861 Mlimo1897 superperson1907 somebody up there1972 sky fairy1997 OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxiii. 9 An ys eower fædyr se þe on heofonum ys. OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 365 Ic and min Fæder syndon witodlice an. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 25 He..steih in to heuene, and sitt on his fader swiðre. a1300 Passion our Lord l. 624 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 55 (MED) Er he wolde astyen to heuene to his vedere. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §57 He hath agilt his fader celestial. 1442 in A. T. Bannister Reg. Thome Spofford (1919) 252 (MED) The fader of hevyn have yow in his kepyng. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 1015 Joy and honoure be to the Fadir of Hevyn. 1533 J. Gau in tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay To Rdr. sig. Aii Grace, marcie, and pece, of god our fader. 1562 N. Winȝet Last Blast Trompet sig. A2^v The lauchfull vocatioun of his heuinlie fader. 1611 B. Jonson Catiline ii. sig. E2^v Great Father Mars, and greater Ioue. View more context for this quotation 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 59 The Almighty Father..bent down his eye, His own works and their works at once to view. View more context for this quotation 1734 I. Watts Reliquiæ Juveniles lii. 202 To see all the Disciples of Christ grown up into such a Catholic Spirit, as to be ready to worship God their common Father..in the same Assembly. 1775 J. Harris Philos. Arrangem. x. 249 Thro' which Relation They are called His Offspring, and He Their Father. 1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 37 Most unwillingly I come, by the great Father's will driven down, To execute a doom of new revenge. 1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 43 Uphold me, Father, in my loneliness A little longer! 1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 2 Some..austere step-son of the Christian God, jealous of the divine benignity..of his father's house. 1914 C. S. Thoms Working Man's Christ xii. 254 Our Father who art in heaven, remember in love and mercy the man I gambled out of fifty dollars to-day. 1977 J. Johnston Shadows on our Skin 136 Please don't let anyone speak again, prayed Joe. Dear Father of Mercy, let no one utter, let us have only silence. 2011 Daily Post (N. Wales) (Nexis) 25 July 18 We sometimes forget that everything we have has been given to us by our heavenly father and, therefore, is not ours to keep. b. Chiefly with the and capital initial. The First Person (person n. 6a) of the Trinity. Cf. son n.¹ 2, Holy Ghost n. 1, and God the Father at god n. 5b. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > the Father > [noun] fatherOE fatherheada1425 first person?a1450 omniparent1609 OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xiv. 26 Se haliga frofre gast þe fæder [L. pater] sent on minum naman. OE Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Kansas Y 103) in Speculum (1962) 37 63 Þas gyrda getacniað Fæder & Sunu & þone halgan gast. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 53 Þe feder and þe sune and þe halie gast iscilde us þer wið. c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 930 Þurth God þe Fadres miȝt. a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) i. 7 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 131 Blisse to þe fadre and to þe sone And to þe haligaste. a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) l. 459 Leue on fader and sone & holy gost. 1548 tr. M. Luther Chiefe Articles Christen Faythe sig. Avj^v The Holy Goost from the Father and the Sonne procedynge. 1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. f. 40^v Wherby appeareth, that the name of God is there relatiuely taken, and therefore restrained to the Person of the Father. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. i. i. ii. 505 The holy Ghost is the Loue of the Father and the Sonne. 1675 T. Brooks Paradice Opened 71 God the father, who from Eternity, had fore-assigned Christ to this office of a Mediator. 1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. i. 7 And God the Father turns a School-Divine. 1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 220 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will then become co-embodied in this divine body. 1851 J. M. Neale Mediæval Hymns 127 Honour, laud, and praise addressing To the Father and the Son. 1886 F. W. Farrar Hist. Interpr. 288 Christ had ascended incorporeally to the Father. 1932 E. A. Kirkpatrick Sci. of Man in Making xiii. 336 The religious minded are concerned with doing the Father's will. 1980 Times 20 Dec. 14/2 God the Father had redeemed the loss of grace mankind had suffered as a result of the first Adam's fall. 2003 Baptist Times 9 Oct. 1/3 The three ladies each gave a testimony before being sprinkled with water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. c. Christ considered as a father in relation to Christians or humankind. Now somewhat rare.Quot. 1859 echoes quot. a1470. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > the Trinity > the Son or Christ > [noun] > according to other attributes horn of salvation (health)c825 fatherOE sun of righteousnessOE priestc1175 leecha1200 vinec1315 apostlec1382 amenc1384 shepherdc1384 the Wisdom of the Father1402 high priest1526 pelican1526 mediatora1530 reconcilerc1531 branch1535 morning star1535 surety1535 vicar1651 arch-shepherd1656 hierarch1855 particularity1930 OE Azarias 103 Þec, Crist cyning, ceolas weorðian, fæder, forst ond snaw, folca waldend. OE Crist III 1218 Þonne Crist siteð..on heahsetle, heofonmægna God, fæder ælmihtig. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) v. l. 511 (MED) If it be þi wille, Þat art owre fader and owre brother. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 1014 Fayre Fader, Jesu Cryst! I thanke The. 1581 R. Crowley Aunswer Sixe Reasons vi. sig. G.j^v The Church (being the spowse of Christe) is our mother, and hath receyued commission, from her husband, and our father Christ, to teach vs all those things that he hath taught and commaunded her to doo. 1646 W. Prynne Canterburies Doome 214 Honour, Reverence and respect the sacred and glorious Virgin Mary with an especiall Love: she is the Mother of our Soveraigne Lord and heavenly Father Christ Iesus. 1664 H. More Modest Enq. Myst. Iniquity i. ii. vi. 122 Christ..is the Everlasting Father and holy Regeneratour of his true Church into his own life and likeness. 1734 J. Mottley Stow's Surv. London & Westm. I. ii. iii. 313/2 My Life's first Hour proved the Last to me..to our Father Christ I went. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Guinevere in Idylls of King 254 Our fair father Christ. 1952 R. Bunzel Chichicastenango iii. 156 I pray you to give the blessing over our drink, which is that of Our Father, Jesus Christ. 2013 Daily Oklahoman (Nexis) 5 Apr. a12 His faith in Christ our Father showed through in everything he did. 3. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a forefather, a progenitor; esp. the founder of a race or family, spec. Adam or one of the biblical patriarchs (see patriarch n. 2a(b)). More loosely: a man belonging to an earlier age.See also to be gathered to one's fathers at Phrases 3.chief father, elder-father, former father, forn-father, grandfather, stem-father, stock-father, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun] elder-fathereOE fatherOE elder971 alderOE eldfatherOE forme-fadera1200 ancestorc1300 grandsirec1300 aiela1325 belsirea1325 predecessora1325 forefather1377 morea1382 progenitorc1384 antecessorc1400 forn-fatherc1460 forebear1488 ancient1540 antecestrec1550 fore-grandsirec1550 grandfather1575 ascendant1604 forerunnera1616 ancienter1654 tupuna1845 society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun] > collectively fatherOE forthfatherc1000 eldringsc1300 lineage13.. ancestry?a1400 fore-eldersa1400 ancestory1642 majority1646 society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > ancestor > [noun] > first ancestor or patriarch chief fatherc1400 father?a1425 primitive1486 stock-father1600 stem1604 primogenitor1643 patriarch1758 stem-father1879 society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > [noun] > member of > patrician > collectively fathera1538 patricianship1824 OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke i. 55 Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros abraham et semini eius in sæcula : suæ gesprecen wæs to fadores usra & sede his in worulde. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) iii. 9 Ne cweþað betwux eow, we habbað Abraham us to fæder. OE Ælfric Homily: Sermo ad Populum (Corpus Cambr. 188) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 419 Se frumsceapena mann.., Adam ure fæder, wæs ðurh God swa gesceapen þæt he beon mihte butan synnum. a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 197 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 226 Vre foremes faderes gult we abugeð alle. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 494 Ðus fel Adam ðurȝ a tre, Vre firste fader. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. iii. l. 126 Ȝowre fadre she felled þorw fals biheste. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 43 (MED) The Sarazines..han the place in gret reuerence for the holy fadres, the Patriarkes þat lyȝn þere. a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 13 Theyr cyvyle ordynance & statutys devysyd by theyr old fatherys in every secte. 1589 A. Barlowe in R. Hakluyt Principal Navigations 732 The Sauages were neuer at it [sc. Schycoake], onely they speake of it, by the report of their Fathers, and other men, whome they haue heard affirme it, to be about one daies iourney about. 1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. E2 He loved Sword and Buckler men, and such as our Fathers were wont to call, men of their hands. 1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd i. 351 God; who fed Our Fathers here with Manna. View more context for this quotation 1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 36 In ancient Days, The Roman Legions, and great Cæsar found Our Fathers no mean Foes. 1778 W. Burgh Inq. Belief Christians ii. 74 The transmitted sin of our first Father. a1800 W. Cowper Yardley-Oak in W. Hayley Life & Posthumous Writings Cowper (1804) III. 415 One man alone, the father of us all, Drew not his life from woman. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 20 Nor were the arts of peace neglected by our fathers during that stirring period. 1974 Historia 23 32 Kimon returned from Skyros claiming to have the bones of Theseus, the national hero and ancestral father of the Athenians and the Ionians. 1992 Presbyterian Rec. Sept. 19/2 History is always ambiguous. Maybe we're debunking too much these days, exposing the sins of our fathers. 2010 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 11 Mar. 22/2 On one side were those who remained true to the faith of their fathers. 4. a. A person, esp. a ruler or superior, who provides protecting care like that of a father; a person who shows paternal kindness, or to whom filial reverence and obedience are due. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > one who looks after > protector or patron fathereOE mundOE governor1340 protectorc1390 feedera1400 patronc1400 taker-upa1425 fautora1464 provisora1475 vower1488 presidenta1522 parent1526 guardiant1618 big brother1837 avoué1851 fanger- eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 920 Hine geces þa to fæder & to hlaforde Scotta cyning & eall Scotta þeod. OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 116 Ealle þa hyredmenn hine [sc. St Sebastian] hæfdon for fæder and mid lufe wurðodon. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job xxix. 16 Fader I was of pore men [L. pater eram pauperum]. a1460 Earl of March & Earl of Rutland Let. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. I. 9 Oure..ryght noble lorde and ffadur. 1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xx. sig. c.vii The senate & people..wolde haue hym called, the great Alexander, and father of the countray. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xix. sig. Tt4 You are a Prince, & a father of people, who ought..to set downe all priuate conceits, in comparison of what for the publike is profitable. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. i. 101 A Father of the Common-weale. View more context for this quotation 1636 P. Massinger Great Duke of Florence i. ii. sig. C2^v For her love I will be a Father to thee. 1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ Pref. sig. C2^v In Germany, no young Farmer is permitted to marry..till he..hath planted, and is a Father of such a stated number of Wallnut-Trees. 1732 S.-Carolina Gaz. 6 May 2/2 A Prince, who upon the highest Reason may challenge to be stiled The Father of his Country. 1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. iii. 159 It was meant to assert..that Scots..owed no duty to Rome or to Byzantium, but only to their Father and Lord at Winchester. 1889 Harper's Mag. July 198/1 The Czar is the father of his people, the Lord's anointed, the head of the orthodox Church. 1913 G. V. May Jack Denton's Devotion ii. 30 I pray you, son of the great nation beyond the seas, tell me where I can find America's father, Mr. Cogswell? 1979 J. Harvey Plate Shop xi. 56 As he grew older, and had a family at home, he came to see that he was the father of the shop. 2009 New Yorker 9 Mar. 47/3 Oddsson held on. ‘The father of the nation has become the madman on the roof,’ Magnason said. b. A patron of literature or the arts. Chiefly historical with reference to Francis I of France (1494–1547). [With reference to Francis I of France after French père des lettres (16th cent. in Middle French).] ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > patronage > [noun] > patron > of the arts or literature fathera1522 Maecenas1542 a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) i. Prol. 85 Fader of bukis, protectour to sciens and lair, My speciall gud Lord Henry, Lord Sanct Clair. 1751 J. Kippax tr. J. de Uztáriz Theory & Pract. Commerce & Maritime Affairs I. xxvii. 129 This father of arts and letters was the first of our kings, that projected the introduction of trade into France by distant voyages into the remote parts of the world. 1789 T. Holcroft tr. J. L. D'Alembert Let. in tr. King Frederick II Posthumous Wks. XI. lxxxii. 268 I am told that it is here intended to suppress the royal college, founded by Francis I, the father of literature. 1837 H. Hallam Hist. Lit. I. v. 461 Francis I. has obtained a glorious title, the Father of French literature. 1859 T. A. Trollope Decade Ital. Women II. 398 It is quite time that the historic claims of many princely ‘fathers of literature’..should be more rightly appreciated. 1982 R. J. Knecht Francis I i. 1 It was the birthplace of King Francis I, the ‘knight-king’ (roi-chevalier) and ‘father of letters’ (père des lettres). 5. a. Roman History. In plural. With capital initial. The senators of ancient Rome (cf. conscript fathers at conscript adj. 1a). Also occasionally: the Patricians (patrician n.¹ 1b). ΚΠ OE Glosses to Boethius (Corpus Cambr. 214) in W. C. Hale Edition & Codicol. Study CCCC MS 214 (Ph.D. diss., Univ. Pennsylvania) (1978) 287 Sed quondam dabat improbus uerend [is] Patribus indecores curules : ac eugefyrn sealde se manfulla arwurþum fædrum unwlitige oþþe bysmurfulle ealdorsetl. ?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) i. pr. iv. l. 414 Ȝit hadde I not desserued of þe fadres [L. patribus], þat is to seyne of þe senatours. 1445 tr. Claudian's De Consulatu Stilichonis in Anglia (1905) 28 281 (MED) Why knowith not yit the volume of Rome which conscript fadris shewith. c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. ii. xv. 187 The samyn ȝere deceissit Meninius Agrippa, quhilk wes lufit baith with þe faderis [L. patribus] and small pepill. 1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iii. i. 1 Heare me graue Fathers . View more context for this quotation 1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. i. i. 9 The councell of estate should belong to the old, and ancient, who for their authoritie should be called Fathers [L. patres], and for their antiquitie, Senators, or Aldermen. 1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero I. v. 382 The authority of the Fathers, and the interests of the Republic. 1842 T. B. Macaulay Battle Lake Regillus in Lays Anc. Rome 100 The Fathers of the City Are met in high debate. 1842 T. B. Macaulay Horatius in Lays Anc. Rome 60 The Tribunes beard the high, And the Fathers grind the low. 1875 W. Ihne Early Rome iii. 37 From among the patricians, again, he [sc. Romulus] chose a hundred of the oldest and wisest men, whom he called Fathers. 1960 A. Duggan Family Favourites x. 198 He attended the Senate, and occasionally delivered a short speech to the assembled Fathers. 1990 C. McCullough First Man in Rome (1991) 39 The patrician was the antique aristocrat, one whose family was listed among the Fathers of Rome. b. In plural. The leading men or elders of any city or assembly. Also occasionally in singular.city father, town father: see the first element. ΚΠ ?1560 T. Norton Orations of Arsanes sig. L.iij^v The Princes of Germanie, the fathers of Venice, and other Christian Kynges and states. 1590 T. Fenne Frutes f. 57 A graue Father of Carthage who boldly stood foorth. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 201 From whence the Race of Alban Fathers come. 1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xviii. 93 A council of senators, emphatically styled the Fathers of the City. 1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall IV. xlvii. 555 The fathers..of the council were awed by this martial array. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth vii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 162 They were..the fathers of the city. 1842 N. Hawthorne Twice-told Tales II. 36 The Selectmen of Boston, plain, patriarchal fathers of the people. 1962 Listener 25 Oct. 647/2 The Council Fathers are supposed to maintain complete discretion, though almost all of them ‘leak’ to the press. 2008 Rio Rancho (New Mexico) Observer 4 May 6/1 What better way could the fathers of the city spend money than on its youth? c. The longest serving (or sometimes the oldest) member of a society or institution. Cf. Father of the House n. at Phrases 6.Recorded earliest in †Father of the City: the oldest alderman (alderman n. 3) of the City of London (obsolete). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > [noun] > member > oldest member father1668 society > authority > office > holder of office > magistrate > municipal magistrate > [noun] > alderman > specific London alderman grey cloak1621 Father of the City1668 society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > oldest member father1893 1668 N. Hardy Royal Common-wealths Man 32 He at length became and so continued for some years..the first among the 26. the eldest Alderman upon the bench that had served in the Office of a Lord Mayor, to whom is given that honourable title of the Father of the City. 1705 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 13 Sept. S^r Robert Clayton..Alderman, the Father of y^t City. 1764 Gentleman's & London Mag. Oct. 606/2 In the same year, upon the motion of Sir Robert Ladbrooke, then Father of the city, the thanks of the court of aldermen were given to Sir John Barnard. 1816 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 3 Dec. The venerable William Findley, now the oldest member, and by courtesy considered the Father, of the House of Representatives, has so far recovered the long illness which confined him at home the whole of the last session, as to have taken his seat. 1837 ‘Nimrod’ Chace, Turf, & Road ii. 132 Mr. Warde the father of the field, may..be called the father of the road also. 1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. vi. 47 You'll be the Father of the Marshalsea. 1880 Athenæum 18 Dec. 820/1 Sir Edward Sabine, now in his ninety-second year, is the father of the Society. 1893 Daily Tel. 8 July 7/3 The Right Hon. C. P. Villiers, M.P., ‘Father of the House of Commons’, was robbed of his watch on Thursday. 1944 N.Y. Times 27 July 16/3 At the end of his term he will have served five years longer than Justice Morrill of Vermont, once called the Father of the Senate. 1997 Western Daily Press (Nexis) 17 July 37 The 80-year-old Father of the House of Commons has been sifting through papers at his elegant period home in Salisbury Cathedral Close for some years now. d. A person appointed to preside over an organization or an event. ΘΚΠ society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > leader lattewc825 lodera1325 chieftainc1386 foreleadera1400 bellwetherc1430 aurigac1460 leader1489 Moses1528 ringleader1548 general1582 foreman1603 coryphaeus1633 foreheada1641 senator1656 father1771 o-muraji1869 simba1964 neta1984 society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > one who presides > over a body of persons or their meetings presidentc1390 praeses1619 pres.1686 father1771 1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 244 I will take your place..and think myself happy to be hailed, Father of the Feast. 1889 Dict. National Biogr. XVII. 303/1 He also took a leading part in the institution of the Smithfield Cattle Show, and on the death of Richard Astley was made ‘father’ of the show. 1916 Amer. Indian Mag. Oct. 347 As an indication of the busy life of our Society's ‘father’ the Fisk University News gives some of his engagements up to mid-October. 2006 F. Gabelnick in E. B. Klein & I. L. Pritchard Relatedness in Global Econ. vii. 163 Neither brother will claim the title of president or CEO... No one is the father of the organization. 6. a. As a title prefixed to the name of an older man, or one who commands respect. Also as a form of address to such a man. Cf. old man n. Compounds 4. Now rare, except in fixed collocations, as Father Christmas n. at Compounds 2a, (Old) Father Time at time n. 34b. Occasionally used mockingly. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous forms of address or title > [noun] > title > for a man > for old or older man fatherOE Mang1926 OE tr. Gospel of Nicodemus (Cambr.) xv. §4. 188 Þa Iudeas..wæron clypigende and cweðende: La fæder Ioseph, syb sig myd þynum ingange. c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 6 Ða andswarede him dauid & cwæð, ‘Ealæ, fæder moyses.’ a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2399 Iacob was brogt bi-foren ðe king..‘Fader derer [read dere],’ quað pharaon. a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe i. 57 (MED) In schort tyme..comyth..an elde man..‘Fadyr’ seyde þe preste becawse of reuerens. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse Pref. sig. Aiv^v How often doth father Moses in his .V. bookes, make mention of Babilon. a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) v. i. 3 He call'd me Father . View more context for this quotation 1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 413 It was the common way in Conversation..when Persons of Age and Authority spoke kindly to their Juniors, to say, Son, or, Daughter; and the others again used to say, Father, or, Mother: though there was no Kindred at all between them. 1799 R. Southey in Morning Post 17 Jan. 2/4 You are old, Father William, the young man said. a1854 Canting Songs in J. Coleman Hist. Cant & Slang Dicts. (2004) I. 213 Then placed him in the nearest pew long side of father grey locks. 1947 B. Bhattacharya So Many Hungers! xiv. 211 A shrivel of a man came toddling... He saw Rahoul at the gates of the kitchen. ‘Father, is it true? You will give us rice to eat.’ 2003 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 21 July 24 Old Father Winter, formerly a vicious old plaguer of midwinter households,..became fused with St Nicholas and re-emerged as Father Christmas. b. As a title prefixed to the name of a major river, esp. the Thames. Cf. Father of waters (also rivers, floods) at Phrases 5, Old Man River n. at old man n. Compounds 4. ΚΠ 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A6 As when old father Nilus gins to swell..His fattie waues doe fertile slime outwell. 1661 T. Ross tr. Silius Italicus Second Punick War i. 23 Untill on the Italian Shore The Ship arriv'd: where Father Tyber [L. pater..Thybris], made More rich by Anyo's Waters, doth invade With Yellow Waves the Sea. 1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 9 In vain on Father Thames she calls for Aid. 1747 T. Gray Ode Eton Coll. 4 Say, Father Thames,..Who foremost now delight to cleave With pliant Arm thy glassy Wave? 1813 H. Smith & J. Smith Horace in London i. ii. 19 Sir Francis..To father Thames commits his fate: In secret the uxorious tide Safe bears him to the Surrey side. 1897 Daily News 6 July 5/3 Hardy bargemen who ply Father Thames by day and night from Twickenham Ferry to the Nore. 1932 Collier's 9 Jan. 24/1 Father Mississippi had brought down a drift log and lodged it here, which caused an obstructed current to drop its sediment. 1999 Caravan Mag. June 69/3 Old Father Thames skirts it and the river Thame runs through to join the main river nearby. 7. Ecclesiastical and religious uses. a. A male religious teacher, counsellor, or leader regarded as having a paternal relationship with those whom he advises; a spiritual director; a confessor. Also more fully spiritual father. Also as a form of address.With quot. 1614, cf. Job 29:16: ‘I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.’ (King James Bible).ghostly father, godfather, shrift-father, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > confessor > [noun] shriftc897 fatherOE shrift-father?c1225 penancerc1300 confessor1340 shriver1340 penitencera1387 penitentiary?a1475 pentionary1560 confessary1629 confessarius1661 scruple-drawer1701 soul friend1891 society > faith > worship > preaching > catechesis > [noun] > one who performs fatherOE catechizerc1449 mystagoguec1540 oracle1548 catechist1564 guru1613 director1671 swami1901 society > faith > worship > preaching > catechesis > [noun] > one who performs > to whom one owes one's spiritual life fatherOE OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxvii. 407 Þa ðe for heofonan rices myrhðe forlætað fæder & moder..hi underfoð manega gastlice fæderas. OE Regularis Concordia (Tiber.) (1993) xxii. 37 Ut fratrum unusquisque suę conscientię reatum patri spirituali..per humilem reuelet confessionem : þæt gebroþra æghwylc hys inngehydes gylt fæder gastlicum..þurh eadmode geopenige andetnesse. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 7 (MED) Mine gastliche faderes. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 235 Inoch is to segge swa. þet þe schrift fader witerliche understonde hwat þu wule meanen. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. iv. 15 If ȝe han ten thousandis of litle maistris in Crist Jhesu, but not manye fadris [L. patres]. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 1865 Min holy fader, so I wile. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. l. 120 Ȝe sholde be here fadres and techen hem betere. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Ellesmere) (1877) §909 So is his [sc. a child's] godfader his fader espiritueel. a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe i. 44 (MED) Þe ankyr of þe Frer Prechowrys in Lenn, whech was principal gostly fadyr to þis creatur. ?a1500 (a1471) Brut (Lyell) in J. S. Davies Eng. Chron. (1856) 64 (MED) There thay slow him horribly, thair fader and thair bisshoppe. 1567 W. Allen Treat. Def. Priesthod 226 We call them Confessours, & of olde in Grece, they were named Spirituall maisters or Fathers. 1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxiv. 156 It sauoureth more of pietie to giue them their old accustomed name of fathers and mothers in God. 1614 W. Kinsman & E. Kinsman tr. A. de Villegas Lives of Saints 620 All his [sc. St Thomas Becket's] other vertues:..so good a father to the poore, that none departed from him without reliefe. 1651 D. Cawdrey Inconsistencie Independent Way 164 In the Church, the Ministers are spirituall fathers to the members. 1677 Lady Chaworth in MSS Duke of Rutland (12th Rep. Hist. MSS Comm.) (1889) App. v. 43 The D[uchess] of Portsmouth..has promised it to her ghostly father. 1717 T. Brett Independency Church upon State 50 Although God have given the Bishop a Right to such Maintenance, yet if he has it not, he is no less the Father of that Flock than if he had it. 1769 H. Venn in Life (1835) 152 A lady said to me, ‘You, Sir, are my spiritual father!’ 1783 H. Bright Praxis 59 My Fathers and Mothers in a religious, spiritual and godly Sense, or Proparents, who covenanted for me at the Baptismal Font. 1828 T. S. Grimshawe Mem. L. Richmond (1829) 132 He was regarded by them [sc. the communicants] as a father. 1889 W. Pater Appreciations 239 Do you think it could be my duty, as a relative of Mademoiselle de Courteheuse, her spiritual father, as a prelate of the Church, to lend my hands to such disorder? 1908 D. De Leon tr. E. Sue Branding Needle iii. iii. 114 Ah, my father in Christ! 1967 H. Welch Pract. Chinese Buddhism 1900–1950 ii. ix. 247 That monk became his ‘father’. 2010 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 28 July a7/1 I have had the privilege of walking with a spiritual father since 1998. b. A priest belonging to a religious or monastic order. Also as a title given to the head of a monastery or other religious community. Cf. brother n. 9, Father Superior at superior adj. 6b.Cowley Father, Oblate Father, purple father, White Father, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbot > [noun] abboteOE fatherOE Pater Abbasc1400 father abbot1479 abbas1550 abbot-presbyter1641 abbate1750 OE St. Euphrosyne (Julius) in W. W. Skeat Ælfric's Lives of Saints (1900) II. 336 Þæs mynstres fæder wæs swyðe mære beforan gode. c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) l. 13 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 220 (MED) Fader..par charite, oþur red þov most take. ?c1335 (a1300) Land of Cokaygne l. 176 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 149 (MED) Þilk monke þat slepiþ best..Of him is hoppe..To be sone uadir abbot. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Riii Abbot Pyor..whiche amonge a greate multitude of fathers & bretherne, gathered to gyther, in maner of a visitacion..dyd in this wyse. a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 48 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) He..became father of the Monkes of Saint Hilarie. a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 280 'Blesse you good Father Frier. View more context for this quotation 1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks iii. 140 The Capuchin Fathers are the only men that have witnessed some horror for so extravagant a Pomp. 1739 T. Gray Jrnl. in France in Wks. (1884) I. 244 It [sc. the Chartreuse] contains about 100 Fathers, and Freres together. 1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 112 S. Maria di Galiera is a beautiful church, and belongs to the fathers of the oratory. 1838 F. W. Brewster Let. 28 Nov. in Month (1944) July 269 I am the only Father alive of the English Carmel at Tongres. 1931 H. A. L. Fisher in J. C. Squires If it had happened Otherwise 123 The general had set out on his errand, disguised as a Jesuit Father, and charged with letters and proclamations to the Canadian French. 1953 Studies 42 430 He received Anglican orders from Bishop Grafton, of Fond-du-Lac, himself a Cowley Father. 2015 K. Górniak-Kocikowska in I. A. Murzaku Monasticism in Eastern Europe vii. 167 There are also two female orders residing in Licheń and assisting the Marian Fathers. c. Holy Father n. (frequently preceded by the or our) the Pope. [Compare post-classical Latin sanctus pater (8th century in a British source with reference to a pope).] ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > pope > [noun] popeeOE apostoilec1275 vicary1303 vicar1340 bridge maker1341 Antichristc1370 vicar generalc1386 Holy Fatherc1400 servant of the servants of Godc1405 His Holy Fatherhood?a1425 universal bishopc1475 holiness1502 harlot1535 papa1555 Apostolic seat1560 vicegerent1572 man of Rome1581 pontiff1583 bullman1588 apostolicship1599 Pontifex Maximus1610 infallibleship1613 sanctity1633 popeship1641 decretaliarch1656 blessedness1670 Holy seata1674 infallibilityship1679 pontifexa1680 holyshipc1680 unholiness1682 His Infallibility1834 Pape1927 c1400 Brut (Rawl. B. 171) 163 Al þe reaume & patronages of cherches of Engeland and of Irland..we wille resceyue & holde of oure moder che[r]che of Rome, as fee ferme, doyng feaute to our holy fader þe Pope. 1410 in W. Fraser Red Bk. Menteith (1880) II. 281 Our hally fadire the Pape. 1418 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 292 (MED) Þe bulles of prouision maad vnto hym by oure holy fader, þe pope. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 209 (MED) I..schewed my lif to oure holy fadir, the Pope. 1527 T. Walle in G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1827) App. 521 They..by force imprisoned our Holy Father the Pope. 1588 (title) The Holy Bull, And Crusado of Rome: First published by the Holy father Gregory the xiii. 1607 B. Barnes Divils Charter ii. i. sig. D2 We little thought it our most holy father, that our alegeance to the Church of Rome..should haue enforc'd you to take sanctuary. 1682 J. Banks Vertue Betray'd i. i. 3 Now, by our Holy Father's Triple Crown It must not, cannot, nay, it shall not be. 1741 B. Willis Let. 28 Oct. in A. P. Jenkins Corr. T. Secker (1991) 64 He..taught held & affyrmed that our Holy Fadre The Pope of Rome is a great Best & a devyll of Hell. 1771 E. Kimber & R. Johnson Wotton's Baronetage of Eng. III. 85 Provided to the bishopric of Chichester, by the pope, and consecrated by the holy father himself, on the first Sunday in Lent, anno 1247. 1808 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) iii. App. 24 The people's superstition is so great that they are running after the holy father in the streets, and endeavoring to kiss the hem of his garment. 1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table vii. 186 Many a Holy Father's ‘niece’ Has softly smoothed the papal chair. 1922 Glasgow Herald 23 Jan. 11 Every good Catholic should see eye to eye with the Holy Father in everything. 1970 Daily Tel. 28 Aug. 14 The warning contained in the Holy Father's sweeping condemnation of nowaday permissiveness. 2005 Austin (Texas) Amer.-Statesman (Nexis) 4 Apr. e1 All those in attendance were ushered into an audience chamber, and the Holy Father soon entered. d. In formal designations for a bishop, as Reverend Father, Right Reverend Father (in God), †worshipful father (in God). Similarly in formal designations for an archbishop, as Most Reverend Father (in God). Now chiefly Roman Catholic Church. [Compare post-classical Latin reverendissimus pater, reverentissimus pater (from 8th century in British sources).] ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > archbishop > [noun] archbishopc885 erchevesque?a1400 father1418 arch-flamena1530 archbish1560 hierarch1574 arch-prelate1597 grace1625 society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > bishop > [noun] bishopc897 patriarcheOE bispa1300 ordinarya1325 ordinar?1403 father1418 discretion1421 pontificalc1440 diocesanc1450 rocheter1559 monseigneur1561 pope1563 bite-sheep1570 presul1577 rochet1581 diocesser1606 lawn sleevesc1640 episcopant1641 Right Reverend1681 diocesian1686 lawn-man1795 diocesiarch1805 bish1875 shire-bishop1880 1418 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 294 (MED) Worshipful fader yn god, right trusty and welbeloued. We grete yow wel. 1448 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) 39 (MED) Please hit yn to youre..Lordship..to write unto the right reverend fader yn God..Edmund Bysshop of the Cathedrall churche of Excetre. 1473–4 Rolls of Parl.: Edward IV (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1472 2nd Roll §10. m. 16 That worshipfull fader William Wykeham, sumtyme bisshop of Wynchestre. 1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. aa This treatise..was..compyled by the ryght reuerente fader in god Iohan fyssher..bysshop of Rochester. ?1521 J. Fisher Serm. agayn Luther (title page) Y^e most reuerend fader in god y^e lord Thomas Cardinal of Yorke. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. vii. 61 He is within with two right reuerend fathers, Diuinely bent to meditation. View more context for this quotation 1628 Churchwardens' Accts. St. Margaret's, Westm. in J. Nichols Illustr. Manners & Expences Antient Times (1797) 38 Item, of the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Winchester. 1682 D. Abercromby Protestancy to be Embrac'd Ded. sig. A2 To the Right Reverend Father in God, Henry, Lord Bishop of London, Dean of His Majesties Chappel. 1715 ‘C. Dodd’ Secret Policy Eng. Society of Jesus 152 You also, reverend Father, have a sensible rap over the Knuckles in the same Brief. 1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. 370 God forgive his Gravityship the very Reverend Father Provincial. 1838 J. H. Ingraham Burton I. i. vi. 89 She says to me, with much sighing and whispering, ‘Reverend father, [etc.]’. 1893 Catholic Dict. (new ed.) 590/1 The Very Reverend Father Colin died..at the age of eighty-five. 1901 Times 16 Mar. 8/1 The King has been pleased to appoint the Right Reverend Father in God Randall, Bishop of Winchester, to be Clerk of the Closet. 1934 Sewanee Rev. 42 350 An earnest group of scholars, laboring under the watchful eye of the Right Reverend Father in God, Bishop Lancelot Andrewes. 1954 Times 13 Sept. 8/4 A telegram from the Pope, signed by Archbishop Montini, has been sent to the Most Rev. Father K. Lynch. 2009 B. Mitchell tr. G. Grass Tin Drum 123 Mama..entered the Church of the Sacred Heart each Saturday and confessed to the Right Reverend Father [Ger. Hochwürden] Wiehnke. e. As a prefix to the first name or surname of a priest; abbreviated F. or Fr. Also as a form of address to a priest.The title was formerly restricted to those priests belonging to a religious or monastic order (see sense 7b), and therefore initially discontinued in the reformed Church of England. In the 19th cent., Father became the usual English mode of designating a Roman Catholic priest, even among non-Roman Catholics, but some secular priests still refused the title as incorrect, preferring their names to be prefixed ‘The Rev.’. The title has also come to be adopted by many priests within the High Church wing of the Church of England. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > [noun] priesteOE presbyterOE sirec1290 beauperec1300 sirc1386 fatherhooda1393 fatherheada1434 paternity1439 pater1481 fathershipa1500 father1528 key-bearer?1531 key-keeper?1556 vicegerent1572 priestdom1588 sacerdosa1592 flasher1611 priesthooda1616 père1619 sacerdote1685 firekeeper1789 soggarth1836 priestship1868 soutane1890 joss-man1913 1528 Rede me & be nott Wrothe sig. bvi^v I knowe a fryer in a place, Whom they call father Matthias. 1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters i. f. xxii^v/1 The good Scottysh freer father Donold. 1593 in Dublin Rev. (1896) July 65 Mr Orton hath deliverid to me 66 rials for father gibbons. 1616 in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1906) 3 40 Father Didacus de Fuente, on of the familie of St. Dominike. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1645 (1955) II. 469 Father Kircher, who was then setting forth his greate work Obeliscus Pamphilius. 1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 288 Father Simon, was courteous. 1741 R. Challoner Mem. Missionary Priests I. 413 This same Year also were banished, Father William Weston, S.J.,..Father John Roberts, O.S.B.,..Mr. Anthony Wright, and Mr. James West, Priests. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland ii. 17 Father Glenny had readily absolv'd her from the sin of mistrusting heaven. 1890 Dublin Rev. 24 236 Our readers do not need to be told who Father Faber was. 1914 G. K. Chesterton Wisdom of Father Brown i. 24 Father Brown, I seriously ask you to compose your flock, for their sakes. 1953 B. Pym Jane & Prudence ii. 20 ‘Father Lomax, he calls himself,’ corrected Mrs. Glaze; ‘but of course he isn't married. There's no woman sets foot in that vicarage.’ 1960 Times 27 Apr. 16/4 Archbishop John (of Paris),..Protodeacon Nicholas, Father George, and Father Vladimir took part in the service. 1976 J. Patrick Compulsion in Divorce—Anyone? 16 Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. 1995 G. Linehan & A. Mathews Good Luck, Father Ted (TV script, penultimate draft) in Father Ted (1999) 13/1 Mrs Doyle (turning to Jack): Now, Father, what do you say to a cup? 8. a. An originator, inventor, or founder of something; an important male figure in the origin and early history of something. Also: a man who provides the most conspicuous, influential, or archetypal example of something.In Old English with genitive.Pilgrim Fathers, puritan fathers: see the first element.See also Phrases 1. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > initiating or causing to begin > [noun] > institution or founding > one who or that which founds or establishes > those who found fatherOE society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > leaders of father1588 OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xi. 268 He [sc. the devil] is leas & nan soðfæstnys nis on him, ac he is fæder ælcere leasungę. c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. i. l. 14 He [sc. God] is Fader of Fei. a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 4493 (MED) Old Creon, fader of fellonye. ?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman i. viii. sig. H.ij^v Socrates the father of Philisophie [L. philosophiae parens] dyd get by sobre dyet, that he was neuer infected with any sore or ieoperdous sicknes. 1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Oh read ouer D. Iohn Bridges: Epist. 34 Iohn Cant. was the first father of this horrible error in our Church. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xv. iv. 432 The Greekes, whom we may count the very fathers and fosters of all vices [Fr. vrays Peres-nourrissiers de tous vices; L. vitiorum omnium genitores]. 1700 J. Dryden Fables Pref., in Wks. (Globe) 499 He [sc. Chaucer] is the father of English poetry. 1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. xlviii. 283 Hannibal was called The father of warlike stratagems. 1795 Hull Advertiser 14 Nov. 3/3 Dr. Hooper the father of the canal. 1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 29 May (1946) 73 Words..sung by the fathers of the reformation. 1844 D. Gooch Diaries (1892) 54 I may..I think, claim to be the father of express trains. 1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. p. ix To represent Plato as the father of Idealism. 1934 S. R. Nelson All about Jazz i. 23 Chas. Washington..was the father of the fakers, as he was unable to read a note of music. 1954 Law & Contemp. Probl. 19 656 ‘Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,’ the Father of Psychoanalysis reminded them. 2004 New Yorker 2 Aug. 35/2 To refer to Rickles, as people often have, as ‘the father of insult comedy’ is perhaps a little far-fetched. b. One of the early Christian writers, on whose works much later doctrine and theology is based. Also more fully Father of the Church. [After post-classical Latin pater ecclesiae (from 8th century in British and continental sources).] Usually applied to those writers of the first five centuries of Christianity.Apostolic Fathers, church father, Greek fathers, etc.: see the first element. ΚΠ OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 16 Ealle þa geleaffullan fæderas þe godes lare awriton. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 149 Hit seið in Vitas patrum ðat at sume sal waren ðe hali faderes to-gedere igadered. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 155 (MED) Ase zayþ þe boc of collacions of holy uaderes. c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 1 (MED) The rewle of the moost holy fader Austyn. a1475 Bk. Quinte Essence (1889) 18 (MED) It is preued in vitas patrum, þat is to seye, in lyues and colaciouns of fadris. 1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Pref. sig. ❧.i If a manne woulde searche out by the auncient fathers. 1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. ii. 146 As a certaine Father saith. View more context for this quotation a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 200 To this discourse of Basil, other Fathers agree. 1692 J. Ray Misc. Disc. xi. 193 I have already given many Testimonies of the ancient Fathers and Doctors of the Church. 1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes 141 Irenaeus and Origen, and other Fathers. 1776 J. Chelsum Remarks Last Chapters Gibbon's Hist. 20 The Greek as well as the Latin Fathers. 1839 H. W. Longfellow Hyperion II. iv. vii. 191 I gazed with secret rapture on the vast folios of the Christian Fathers. 1887 J. R. Lowell Democracy in Prose Wks. (1890) VI. 14 A Father of the Church said that property was theft many centuries before Proudhon was born. 1911 Catholic Encycl. XI. 313/1 It is not true that the doctrine of original sin does not appear in the works of the pre-Augustinian Fathers. 1984 Canad. Lit. Spring 196 Although I would take issue with the early Church Fathers on many things, I would agree that despair is..one of the deadly sins. 2000 N. Russell Cyril of Alexandria (front matter) The Greek and Latin fathers of the Church are central to the creation of Christian doctrine. 2001 Church Times 15 June 16/1 A Patristic scholar with a particular interest in St Gregory of Nyssa and the Cappadocian Fathers. c. U.S. Frequently with capital initial. An American statesman of the Revolutionary period, esp. any of those involved in framing the constitution. Also (in Father of the Country and similar phrases): spec. George Washington. Cf. founding father at founding adj. ΚΠ 1787 H. Knox Let. 19 Mar. in G. Washington Writings (1891) XI. 123 The glorious republican epithet, The Father of your Country. 1810 Port Folio Feb. 86 How few of the fathers of the constitution..now participate in her employments and public functions! 1864 G. Benis Precedents of Amer. Neutrality 58 The Father of his Country [sc. Washington] was urging upon his countrymen a policy of peace and non-entanglement with foreign complications. 1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xli. 105 Much less sought after and prized than in ‘the days of the Fathers’. 1929 N.Y. Times 3 Mar. ix. 15/2 They knew nothing of the story of the Father of the American Republic, or of the little mound of brick and mortar a stone's throw away that marked the spot where he was born. 1943 E. M. R. von Kuehnelt-Leddihn Menace of Herd 11 Our Constitutional fathers, familiar with the strength and weakness of both autocracy and democracy,..defined a representative republican form of government. 1970 G. Scott-Heron Vulture 136 America has always been known as the land of the free whites and the home of the slave. One of the greatest perpetuators of this type of hypocrisy was the Father of the country, George Washington. 2004 J. Kinory & I. van Dam tr. L. Gerken Constit. Liberty in Open Econ. 195 In all probability, the fathers of the constitution would have acted no differently if they had decided to provide for the possibility of changing the constitution..via a referendum. 9. a. Something which gives rise to or produces another thing. Also: something which protects or nurtures another thing. Cf. parent n. 3, child n. 14b.In quot. OE as part of a riddle (describing the operation of a double bellows, where one half inflates the other) using anthropomorphic imagery.See also the wish is father to the thought at Phrases 2b. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun] welleOE mothereOE ordeOE wellspringeOE fathereOE headeOE oreOE wellspringOE rootc1175 morea1200 beginningc1200 head wella1325 sourcec1374 principlea1382 risinga1382 springinga1382 fountain14.. springerc1410 nativity?a1425 racinea1425 spring1435 headspring?a1439 seminaryc1440 originationc1443 spring wellc1450 sourdre1477 primordialc1487 naissance1490 wellhead?1492 offspringa1500 conduit-head1517 damc1540 springhead1547 principium1550 mint1555 principal1555 centre1557 head fountain1563 parentage1581 rise1589 spawna1591 fount1594 parent1597 taproot1601 origin1604 fountainhead1606 radix1607 springa1616 abundary1622 rist1622 primitive1628 primary1632 land-spring1642 extraction1655 upstart1669 progenerator1692 fontala1711 well-eye1826 first birth1838 ancestry1880 Quelle1893 eOE Metrical Dialogue of Solomon & Saturn (Corpus Cambr. 422) ii. 448 Hwæt witeð us wyrd seo swiðe..frumscylda gehwæs fæder and modor, deaðes dohtor? OE Riddle 37 8 Ne swylteð he symle, þonne syllan sceal innað þam oþrum..; he sunu wyrceð, bið him sylfa fæder. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. i. 883 Aristotil seiþ þat þe erþe is moder and þe sonne fader of treen. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 74^v So shal the branch [when grafted] liue being both nourished by his olde mother, and his newe father. 1593 A. Chute Beawtie Dishonoured 37 Ah death old father of our common end. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. i. 8 Euery minute now Should be the father of some Stratagem. View more context for this quotation 1604 King James VI & I Counterblaste to Tobacco sig. B3 The foure Complexions, (whose fathers are the foure Elements). 1668 Duchess of Newcastle Presence 117 in Plays For Time and Experience is the Father and Mother of Wisdom. 1786 J. E. Smith tr. C. Linnaeus Diss. Sexes Plants 53 in tr. C. Linnaeus Refl. Study Nature It is easily propagated by cuttings, and agrees perfectly with its mother in fructification, and with its father in leaves. 1911 Gas Engine Aug. 419/2 The designer is father to the blue print—the blue print is father to the pattern—and the pattern is father to the casting. 1995 B. W. Piasecki Corporate Environmental Strategy iv. 48 Albert Greenstein, an ARCO public relations executive, described the results as follows: ‘If necessity is the mother of invention, the threat of regulation is often its father.’ b. Computing. The second most recent, or second most frequently updated, backup of some data. Often attributive, as father tape. Cf. grandfather n. 6, son n.¹ 10. ΘΚΠ society > computing and information technology > hardware > secondary storage > [noun] > magnetic > tape drive > generations of tape father1961 grandfather1961 son1961 1961 Commerc. Law Jrnl. 66 377/1 You will hear about ‘grandfather’, ‘father’, and ‘son’ tapes, or ‘first’, ‘second’, and ‘third’ generation tapes. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xvi. 265 The new master tape (‘son’) is retained till the next updating run in which it serves as the old master tape (‘father’). 1993 PC Mag. 26 Oct. (Network Ed. Suppl.) 26/3 With GFS [sc. Grandfather/Father/Son] rotation,..the daily backup is done on the son, the monthly backup is done on the father, and the weekly backup is done on the grandfather. 2005 A. Calder Business Guide Information Security 134 A backup cycle usually works on a grandfather, father, son basis. 10. At Cambridge, and occasionally Oxford, University: a college officer who accompanies students at an examination, or who presents them at a degree ceremony. Cf. praelector n. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > education > member of university > [noun] > fellow fellowc1405 father?c1550 student1589 by-fellow1856 idle-fellow1919 ?c1550 Stokys's Bk. in G. Peacock Observ. Statutes Univ. Cambr. (1841) App. p. vi The Father shall enter hys commendacions of hys chyldren. 1762 J. Woodforde Diary 2 Mar. in Woodforde at Oxf. (1969) 75 We went up into the School of Languages..where I answer'd under —— Batchelor, Mr. Adams being so good as to oppose me, Oglander Senr. was my Father, and I was his Son. 1772 J. Jebb Remarks Present Mode Educ. 20 The students enter..preceded by a Master of Arts..who on this occasion is called the Father of the College to which he belongs. 1803 Gradus ad Cantabrigiam Father, one of the Fellows of a College..who..attends all the examinations for Bachelor's Degree, to see that..justice is done to the men of his own College. 1884 C. Dickens, Jr. Dict. Univ. Cambr. 34 Then the Senior Wrangler..is presented to the Vice-Chancellor by his Father (or Prælector) and receives his degree on his knees. 2004 Straits Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 12 Aug. Dr Marrian, who is Praelector, or Father of the college, was his assigned tutor. Phrases P1. Designations of biblical or ecclesiastical origin. a. the Father of Lights and variants: God. [After post-classical Latin pater luminum (Vulgate), itself after Hellenistic Greek πατὴρ τῶν ϕώτων (New Testament), both in James 1:17 (see quot. c1384).] ΚΠ OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 28 Omne donum perfectum de sursum est descendens a patre luminum : ælc geafo wisfæst ufa is ofdune stigende from feder lehta. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) (1850) James i. 17 Ech best thing ȝouun, and al parfijt ȝift is fro aboue, comynge doun of the fadir of liȝtis [L. Patre luminum], anentis whom is not ouerchaunginge, nether schadewing of whileness, or tyme. 1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters i. xvii. f. xxi^v/1 Euery good and very perfyte gyfte commeth from aboue descendyng from the father of lyghtys. 1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 195 The light of the same proceeding immediately and fountainously from the Father of Lights. 1753 W. Hopkins Appeal to Common Sense Christian People 178 Join with me in solemn Thanks to the Father of Lights. 1833 J. Montgomery Lect. Poetry & Gen. Lit. vi. 224 No living writer can hope for immortality in its only enviable earthly sense, who does not occupy his talents on subjects..not disreputable to their Author,—the Father of lights! 1876 J. S. Blackie Songs Relig. & Life 68 That first Father of Lights From whom the ray vivific marvellous burst. 1917 Jrnl. Race Devel. 7 279 True reform is deadened. There is no news for a big struggle. There is no upward look to the Father of Lights. 1961 Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 60 625 The Christians, too, saw Jehovah as a bright God, the Father of Lights. 2008 M. Ward Planet Narnia (2010) ii. 28 Since God is the Father of lights, even the dim and guttering lights of paganism could be ascribed ultimately to Him. b. the father of lies and variants: the Devil. [With allusion to John 8:44: ‘Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.’ (King James Version). Compare post-classical Latin pater mendacii, literally ‘father of the lie’ (4th or 5th century in Augustine).] ΚΠ OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John (headings to readings) xxiii Diabolum homicidam et mendacii patrem adsignat : diobul monnslaga & leasunges ðone fæder tobecnað. c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 16 Ȝoure enemye and myne, the fader of lesynge. 1528 W. Tyndale Obed. Christen Man f. cxij Now ye preach no thinge but lyes, and therfore are of the devyll the father of al lyes and of him are ye sent. 1624 R. Montagu Gagg for New Gospell? xxvi. 204 Thou Lyer, and misborne Elfe of the Father of lies. 1749 Counter-apol. 19 I should suspect him for a cheat; and tell him to his face, that he was rather an emissary of the father of lies than an angel from Heaven. 1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan II. 5 The Father of Lies himself. 1866 J. E. Cooke Surry of Eagle's-nest cxx. 435 The father of lies himself might have envied the consummate skill of the secret enemy who concocted this story. 1919 Hispanic Amer. Hist. Rev. 2 260 Priests and laymen alike regarded the native beliefs with frank contempt, and..did not hesitate to attribute them to the father of lies. 1962 M. Trevor Newman 201 It seemed worse than useless to attempt to fight the father of lies with comforting generalizations. 2009 A. V. Smithson Facedown 290 As the father of lies, the enemy continued his prodding me, keeping me from victory over sin. c. the father of (the) faith and variants. †(a) St Peter. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 1904 Whan Peter, fader of the feith, At domesdai schal with him bringe Judeam, which thurgh his prechinge He wan. (b) The biblical patriarch Abraham. Cf. the father of the faithful at Phrases 1d. ΚΠ 1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. vi. xix. f. liiii^v Quhen our Lord was to destroy the forsaid citeis he reuelit the same destructioun to Abraham, the first father of our faith. 1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. aiij^v Abraham the father of fayth. 1719 Evening-office of Church (ed. 2) 50/2 The great Father of our Faith, Abraham, offer'd a Holocaust on the Altar for his Son. 1867 T. Crosse Lect. Early Script. (ed. 2) xi. 270 Here Abraham, the father of faith,..is described as tempted through the agency of the woman. 1977 G. Gutiérrez in G. Gutiérrez et al. Liberation & Change i. iii. 91 Him who Paul calls the father of the faith. 2006 Times 11 Nov. 70/4 A fellow chaplain reminded me that Abraham, the father of faith, was told by God that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. d. the father of the faithful and variants: the biblical patriarch Abraham. Cf. Phrases 1c(b). [After post-classical Latin pater omnium credentium (Vulgate) and its model ancient Greek πατήρ πάντων τῶν πιστευόντων (New Testament).] ΚΠ 1550 J. Hooper in tr. Tertullian Seconde Bk. vnto his Wyf To Rdr. sig. Av Therfore Abraham the father of the faythfulles bounde his seruaunte by an othe that he shoulde not take any of the doughters of Canaan for hys sonne Isaac. 1652 T. Hodges Hoary Head Crowned Ep. Ded. 3 Blessed Abraham the father of the faithfull. 1742 G. Whitefield Nine Serm. iv. 94 Abraham..shone with such distinguished Lustre, that he was called the Friend of God, the Father of the Faithful. 1838 Evangelical Mag. Aug. 388/2 Like the father of the faithful, he commanded his children and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord. 1863 Old Guard Jan. 11/1 You, Gentlemen, say that slavery is a sin. Abraham, ‘the father of the faithful’, had a thousand slaves. 1910 Biblical World 36 310 The sheik of the desert who became the pattern of faith and the Father of the Faithful is not the only man that has had an open mind. 2009 E. Cripe Not ashamed of Gospel x. 83 Abraham is the father of the Nation of Israel, but he is also the father of the Faithful. P2. a. In various proverbial phrases. ΚΠ OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) lvi. 334 Filius sapiens letificat patrem filius stultus mestitia est matris suę : sunu wis geblissað fæder bearn stunt unrotnyss ys moder his. c1250 Bracton's Note Bk. (1887) III. 501 Fader to þe bowe, þe sune to þe lowe. a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 130 Fader be þu wid child, & be þu wuidewis [emended in ed. to widewis] frend. c1450 MS Douce 52 in Festschrift zum XII. Neuphilologentage (1906) 55 (MED) Be the fadur what he be, Welle is the chylde to the. c1450 MS Douce 52 in Festschrift zum XII. Neuphilologentage (1906) 54 (MED) Childe is pigge, and fader is the flicche. c1475 Proverbs (Rawl. D.328) in Mod. Philol. (1940) 38 124 (MED) Sepe probat natus de qua sit stirpe creatus: Sygge fader, sygge sonne. a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xciv. §10. 342 Ill sunnys folous ill fadirs. 1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 3rd Serm. sig. Ji Happye is the chylde, whose father goeth to the deuyl. 1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 400 The Father to the Boughe, The Sonne to the Ploughe. 1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlv. 513 This is it which some vtter in a prouerbe: That he that will plant his father must cut off his head. 1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 239 He will be a wise child that knows his right father. ?1796 Female Char. Vindicated 10 A Father's a Father, till he gets a new wife, And a Mother's a Mother, all the days of her life. 1823 J. Collins Dict. Spanish Prov. 45 To a hoarding father succeeds an extravagant son. 1872 R. M. Ballantyne Norsemen in West ii. 21 You know the saying, A dutiful son makes a glad father. 1880 J. De Finod tr. Thousand Flashes French Wit 107 A father is a banker given by nature. 1922 D. E. Marvin Antiq. Prov. 63 If you wish to know a father observe his son. 1992 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 30 July 2 When you follow the path of your father, you learn to walk like him. b. Proverb. the wish is father to the thought: an unexpressed desire gives rise to a thought or resolution. ΚΠ 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 221 Thy wish was father (Harry,) to that thought. View more context for this quotation 1791 G. Rous Thoughts on Govt. (ed. 2) 17 I will not say, Edmund, thy wish is father to that thought! 1859 C. Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 7 He..too often makes the wish father to the thought. 1934 C. S. Churchill Let. 22 Dec. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) xvi. 365 I can't think how I read it wrong—I suppose the wish being father to the thought. 2009 Times 4 Feb. 11/1 In a Great Leap Forward, the wish is father to the thought. c. Proverb. the child is father of (also to) the man and variants: childhood experience determines adult character or behaviour. ΚΠ 1807 W. Wordsworth Poems II. 44 The Child is Father of the Man. 1824 Examiner 11 June 433/1 Mr. Canning was the cleverest boy at Eton: he is, perhaps, the cleverest man in the House of Commons..in the sense in which, according to Mr. Wordsworth, ‘the child is father to the man’. a1855 C. Brontë Professor (1857) I. vii. 130 ‘The boy is father to the man,’ it is said; and so I often thought when I looked at my boys and remembered the political history of their ancestors. 1912 Times 25 July 8/1 Give a child a toy which it especially likes. Its first question is, ‘Is it my very own?’—and the child is father of the man. 1968 Illustr. London News 7 Dec. 32/3 This film is enormously complicated.., but all it seems to be saying is that the child is father of the man. 2001 New Jersey Countryside Autumn 76 New Jersey's private country day schools all acknowledge along with poet William Wordsworth that the ‘Child is father of the man’. P3. to be gathered to one's fathers (also formerly †to be put to one's fathers, †to be laid unto one's fathers, †to sleep with one's fathers): to be dead and buried. [In to be gathered to one's fathers, to be put to one's fathers, and to be laid unto one's fathers ultimately after Hebrew ne'ĕspū 'el-'ăḇōṯāw they were gathered to their fathers (Judges 2:10); in to sleep with one's fathers ultimately after Hebrew yiškaḇ ʿim-'ăḇōṯāw he slept with his fathers (frequently in the books of Kings and Chronicles, indicating the death of a king of Israel or Judah).] ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > [verb (intransitive)] > be dead sleepc950 restOE liea1000 to be deadc1000 to lie lowa1275 layc1300 to be gathered to one's fathersa1382 to be gathered to one's fathers1382 to sup with our Saviour, with Our (the) Lord, with (Jesus) Christa1400 repose1586 slumber1594 to sup in heaven or hell1642 to turn one's toes up to the daisies1842 to be out of the way1881 to push up daisiesa1918 to have had it1942 RIP1962 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Judges ii. 10 Al þat generacion is gedered to here faders [L. congregata est ad patres suos]. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) 3 Kings i. 21 Whan my lord kyng schal slepe with his fadris [L. cum dormierit..cum patribus suis]. c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 34 (MED) He decessid and was put to his fadres. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts xiii. f. li Dauid (after he had in his tyme fulfilled ye will of god) fell on sleape, & was laid vnto his fathers. 1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answer Catholike English-man (new ed.) 95 The Reader may iudge, how hee would vse his Maiesties owne fame if hee were gathered to his Fathers. 1698 M. Pix Deceiver Deceived iii. 24 In a months time he went to sleep with his Fathers. a1702 N. Taylor Pract. Disc. (1703) 207 Other Calamities which it may be will fall upon us before we are gathered to our Fathers. 1776 R. Winter Serm. Death J. Winter 19 Even a David..must fall asleep, and be laid to his fathers. 1832 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 31 843 He salivates for some threescore years,..and is gathered to his fathers, to spit no more. 1880 Harper's Mag. July 186/2 Finally La Lande died in the odor of sanctity, and was gathered to his fathers. a1902 S. Butler Way of All Flesh (1903) iii. 12 About one year after his wife's death Mr Pontifex also was gathered to his fathers. 1944 G. Heyer Friday's Child xx. 234 The pug, not being as yet gathered to its fathers, was her particular charge. 2015 Tampa Bay (Florida) Times (Nexis) 11 Oct. (Obituaries) 8 b DeCubellis, Germain L. ‘Jerry’ of Tampa, died and was gathered to his fathers on October 3, 2015. P4. father of the bride n. the father of a bride, esp. on the day of her wedding; now also as a modifier. Sometimes abbreviated FOTB (also FOB).In early use not a fixed phrase. ΚΠ 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxiviij The Marques of Suffolke..espoused the said Ladie, in the churche of sainct Martyns. At whiche mariage were present, the father and mother of the bride. 1818 Lit. Gaz. 4 Apr. 220/1 When they arrive at the house of the bride, the father of the bridegroom asks the father of the bride..if he will permit his daughter to join the party. 1910 Salt Lake Tribune 19 June (Miscellaneous section) 3/5 The father of the bride usually gives away his daughter unless physically unable to do so, when the next nearest masculine relative performs the office. 2012 Irish Daily Mail (Nexis) 4 Aug. We married in 2009, with Keith making a brilliant father-of-the bride speech that had everyone laughing and crying. P5. Father of waters (also rivers, floods): (a name for) a large or important river, esp. (U.S.) the Mississippi. Cf. sense 6b. [With quots. 1600, 1669, and perhaps also quot. 1759, compare Ge'ez Abawi , the name of the Blue Nile (15th century; apparently a derivative of 'ab father: see Abuna n.). The name of the Mississippi River, pace quot. 1761, ultimately derives < Old Ottawa missisipi, literally ‘large river’.] ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > specific rivers > [noun] Thamesc893 Father of waters (also rivers, floods)1567 muddy1825 Old Man River1902 1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. f. 227 Refreshed by the beautifull hande of Erydan, sometyme called the father of ryuers [Fr. pere des fleuues], and nowe termed by the title of Po. 1600 J. Pory tr. G. Botero in Gen. Descr. Afr. 13 in tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. The Abassins haue no great knowledge of Nilus by reason of the mountaines which deuide them from it; for which cause they call Abagni the father of riuers [It. chiamano l'Abagni padre dell'acque]. 1669 P. Wyche tr. J. Lobo Short Relation Nile 8 The River Nile, by the natives called Abani [Port. Abbaui] (i.e.) the Father of Waters. 1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 10 Thou too, great Father of the British Floods! 1759 S. Johnson Prince of Abissinia I. i. 2 The mighty emperour, in whose dominions the Father of waters begins his course. 1761 London Mag. Mar. 120/2 It [sc. the Mississippi] takes its name from an Indian word which means, The antient Father of Rivers. 1818 H. B. Fearon Sketches Amer. 257 The facilities of export afforded by those ‘fathers of waters’, the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri. 1836 J. Hall Statistics of West iii. 46 The traveler is struck with the magnitude..of the stream which has been so appropriately called, the Father of waters. 1857 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. 8 193 I was..more than a hundred miles on the sunset side of the father of floods. 1865 A. Trollope Can you forgive Her? II. xxix. 228 Who has ever been through Basle, and not stood..looking down upon the father of waters? 1917 J. F. Daly Life A. Daly 64 A voyage down the Father of Waters in war times. 1949 Times-Picayune (New Orleans) 27 Mar. 7 With summer approaching, the unique craft will start slipping down Father of Waters. 2003 T. Belue Hunters of Kentucky 1 Onward, southwesterly, churned Speleawee-theepee..to its spill into the Father of Waters roiling brown and muddy. P6. Father of the House n. the oldest member of a legislative assembly; (British) a title given to the member of the House of Commons with the longest continuous service. ΚΠ 1821 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 9 Apr. Thomas Newton is re-elected a member of the House of Representatives. He is now the oldest member of the House, who is by courtesy called the Father of the House. 1837 New Eng. Farmer 6 Sept. 65/1 Were he [sc. Mr Coke of Norfolk, England] still a member [of Parliament], which his age (82) now prevents, he would be by many years the ‘Father of the House’. 1954 Househ. Guide & Almanac (News of World) 304/1 It is a common misconception that the ‘Father of the House’ is the oldest member. The title is reserved for that Member with the longest unbroken service. 1994 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 27 Mar. 36 Edward Heath is the Father of the House and remains unmesmerized by Baroness Thatcher. 2010 Sun (Nexis) 20 May 13 The Father of the House—that's the longest-serving MP, in this case a chap who's been there since 945 bc. P7. like a father: (with reference to speech) in an authoritative or severe manner; strictly. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > paternalism > [phrase] like a father1830 society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > fatherhood > [adverb] fatherlyOE fatherlike?a1513 like a father1830 1830 J. K. Paulding Chron. Gotham 64 If she wont listen to reason, I will talk to her like a father. 1872 J. P. Simpson World & Stage i. 7 I'll see her again—speak to her like a father. 1926 F. W. Crofts Inspector French & Cheyne Myst. vi. 74 James talked to him like a father and he seemed to swallow it all down. 1946 Signalman's Jrnl. Feb. 72/3 It is going to mean that the Parent–Teachers Associations or similar outfits should check up on these teachers and talk to them like a father. P8. colloquial (originally Irish English). the father and mother of a —— and variants: the largest, most notable, or most severe example of (something). Also (esp. Australian and New Zealand) the father of a ——. Cf. mother n.¹ Compounds 6b. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > greatly or very much [phrase] > extremely > remarkable or extraordinary the father and mother of a ——1824 the father of a ——1824 1824 W. Cobbett in Spirit of Eng. Mag. (Boston, Mass.) 15 Dec. 218/1 Did not the Cochranes and Cockburns assist to gain for us that which Paddy would call ‘father of a beating’? 1892 R. Kipling in Two Tales 24 Dec. 57 It would ha' bin my duty..to give you the father an' mother av a beltin. 1908 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Further Experiences Irish R.M. viii. 197 There's been the father and mother of a row down there between old Sir Thomas and Hackett. 1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams ii. xi. 216 The local side got the father of a hiding. 1954 G. Smith Flaw in Crystal 139 They've allowed me to arrange the father and mother of a credit overdraft with the banks. 1960 Punch 13 July 47/2 The stage is set for the father and mother of a row. 2013 Express (Nexis) 30 Aug. 15 One injured rambler and he could be facing the father and mother of all lawsuits. P9. Father of the Chapel: see chapel n. 10b; dollar of the fathers: see dollar n. 5; Great White Father: see great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1e. like father like son: see like adj., adv., conj., and prep. Phrases 6b(b); the father of mischief: see mischief n. Phrases 2e; son-before-the-father: see son n.¹ Phrases 1e. Compounds C1. a. (a) General attributive and appositive, as father fool, father God, father symbol, father tree, etc. ΚΠ OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xx. 337 Se fæder is god of nanum gode, se sunu is god of þam fæder gode. ?a1430 T. Hoccleve Mother of God l. 114 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 55 The fadir god gan edifie (By his sone oonlygeten specially) To him an hows. 1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters iv. f. cxix/2 An olde sage father fole in Kent. 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 458 That gray iniquity, that father ruffian . View more context for this quotation 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 454 From fruitfull Loignes of one old Father-stock. 1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 5 Fruites that..have a vertue given..to draw their Father-Tree to heav'n. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. i. 1 The first and father cause of Common Error. View more context for this quotation 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vii. xiii. 366 A like conceit there passeth of Melasigenes, alias Homer, the father Poet, that he pined away upon the Riddle of the fishermen. View more context for this quotation 1721 R. Samber tr. A. de La Motte 100 New Court Fables i. ii. 82 In this Calamity, what alas! what can the Father Bird [Fr. le Pere oiseau] now do? 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxix. 119 The Father-ruffian of the band. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Will Waterproof's Monologue in Poems (new ed.) II. 182 Such [port] whose father-grape grew fat On Lusitanian summers. 1843 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 637 Love, only Love, can guide the creature Up to the Father-fount of Nature. 1845 C. Norton Child of Islands 132 The Father-widower..Strokes down his youngest child's long silken hair. 1862 H. Marryat One Year in Sweden I. 459 The father-dog was kept tame. 1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust (Boston ed.) II. iii. 283 The child in that bright season gaineth The father-strength. 1875 W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth (rev. ed.) 213 Christians have been made sons of such a Father-God. 1913 N. Y. State Hospitals Bull. (State Hospital Commission) 6 243 His defiance of his father is perhaps best expressed in his remarks about the sun (an archaic father symbol). 1920 T. P. Nunn Education xii. 146 The mother-sentiment appears, to be followed..by the father-sentiment. 1922 Internat. Jrnl. Psycho-anal. 3 206 A totem is, of course, as we know from Freud, a father-symbol. 2004 S. E. Linville Hist. Films, Women & Freud's Uncanny i. 38 This father-widower, haunted by the memory of his dead wife. 2010 N. Smith in P. Hardie & H. Moore Classical Literary Careers xii. 226 Marvell..did not murder his father poets in order to find his own voice so much as echo them within his own voice. 2011 T. Patterson Home Winemaking for Dummies ii. 31 This relative of Cabernet Sauvignon (genetically, Cabernet Franc is the father grape) has a similar flavor profile. (b) Appositive (in sense 7). father abbot n. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbot > [noun] abboteOE fatherOE Pater Abbasc1400 father abbot1479 abbas1550 abbot-presbyter1641 abbate1750 1479 Earl Rivers tr. Cordyal (Caxton) ii. iii His brethren seyng hym so liyng, pusshed hym, seiyng vnto hym. Fadre abbot where art thou. 1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. xi. 308 The ceremony began with the exhortation of the Father-Abbot. 2000 Gloucester Citizen (Nexis) 26 Jan. 6 The Father Abbot of Prinknash community welcomed the congregation to a service of evening prayer. father confessor n. [compare post-classical Latin pater confessionum, literally ‘father of confessions’ (12th century in a British source)] ΚΠ 1541 R. Whitford Dyuers Holy Instrucyons & Teachynges xx. f. 47 Our reuerende father confessour mayster Iohn Fewterer. 1756 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. I. 239 The admonitions of his father-confessor [Ger. Beichtvaters] might concur. 2007 A. Flacco Last Nightingale vi. 61 Moses' line of work made him the custodian of a world of secrets, rather like a father confessor. father director n. [director n. 1d] ΚΠ 1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks v. 234 The Father Director of the Confraternity. 1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. x. 295 He, who appeared to be the Father-director of the pilgrimage. 2011 P. McNamara Spirit Possession & Exorcism I. ix. 131 Sister Jeanne confessed to the father director of the convent, a Father Mignon, that she had been bewitched by Grandier. father Jesuit n. ΚΠ 1583 W. Travers Answer Supplicatorie Epist. 34 Some of them annoynted Priestes, and father Iesuites. 1630 J. Wadsworth Eng. Spanish Pilgrime (new ed.) iii. 14 Obedience the Students are bound to bestow vpon Father Iesuites. 2006 A. R. Enriquez Samboangan iii. v. 103 The good Father Jesuit had become nervous and jittery. father-preacher n. ΚΠ 1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks vi. 277 The one half of the Alms that are gathered in the Church, as well as at the Church-Door, during the Sermon, belongs to the Father-Preacher. 1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund II. iv. ii. 21 There had died lately in the convent a jubilated father preacher, a man of great consideration in the order. 2010 W. Brueggemann Word Militant p. ix I have been thinking about preaching since I first sat and listened to my father-preacher. father saint n. ΚΠ 1633 T. Bancroft Gluttons Feauer sig. F^v No more, reply'd the Father-saint againe. 1842 A. T. de Vere Song of Faith 108 Hear holy lessons from the Father-Saints. 1996 J. R. Gillis World of Their Own Making (1997) ii. 29 The mother and father saints who populated the late medieval Catholic imagination. b. Objective. father slayer n. [after classical Latin patricīda patricide n.² and parricīda parricide n.¹; compare Old English fæderslaga] ΚΠ a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 47^v Paricida, a fadur sleer. ?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 43^v A fadyr slaer, patricida. 1854 J. A. Heraud Videna v. iii. 78 I marvel at ye, ye can plead for him, The brother-slayer and the father-slayer. 2013 T. Stoller Tales of Tricycle Theatre 35 Ken, the supposed father slayer, finds his way to a rum shop where he seeks refuge. c. Preceding and in apposition to other familial terms, forming attributive phrases with the sense ‘of or relating to both persons’, as father–child, father–daughter, father–son. ΚΠ 1904 H. W. Dresser Power of Silence (rev. ed.) vi. 136 Only by taking account of both factors may one be true to the Father-son relationship. 1949 M. Mead Male & Female xvi. 326 A father-daughter household is not as disapproved [etc.]. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day vii. 142 Pathetic attempts to revive the old father-child relationship. 1989 E. Menaker Misplaced Loyalties (1995) 32 The strength of the father-daughter bond precluded the existence of any other significant relationship with a man. 2012 Herald-Sun (Durham, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 16 June b1 Strong father-child relationships come from dads being around for their kids. C2. a. † father-better adj. Scottish Obsolete better than one's father. [Compare earlier father-waur adj., and also Old Icelandic fǫður-betringr (noun) a man who is better than his father.] ΚΠ 1645 R. Baillie Let. 1 July (1841) II. 295 Her glowming sonne, whom I pray God to bless, and make father-better. 1705 A. Symson Tripatriarchicon 44 Though therefore some..Are Father-worse, yet, some are Father-better. † Father-breeder n. Obsolete rare a person who counterfeits writings of the Christian Fathers (see sense 8b); = Father-forger n. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > faking of documents > [noun] > forger, falsifier > of writings of the fathers Father-breeder1624 Father-forger1624 1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 103 Under his name our Popish Father-breeders have of late set out a many of Sermons and Treatises. Father Christmas n. (also †old Father Christmas) chiefly British a personification of Christmas, now conventionally pictured as a benevolent old man with a long white beard and red clothes trimmed with white fur, who brings presents for children on the night before Christmas Day.Father Christmas is now largely synonymous with the figure of Santa Claus (see Santa Claus n. a). ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > imaginary persons or creatures > Father Christmas Father Christmas1646 Santa1773 Kris Kringle1830 1646 Arraignm. Christmas 2 Honest Crier, I know thou knewest old Father Christmas; I am sent to thee from an honest scholler of Oxford..to cry Christmas, for they hear that he is gone from hence, and that we have lost the poor old man. 1652 J. Taylor Christmas In & Out 14 Alas Father Christmas (quoth he) our high and mighty Ale..is lately strook into a deep consumption. 1711 W. Oldisworth Dial. Timothy & Philatheus III. 140 We may look long enough e'er a Canon will be made against Plumb-broth and Porridge..because it was ever pour'd out in Sacrifice to old Father Christmas. 1773 London Mag. 42 App. 654/2 Old father Christmas now in all his glory, Begs with kind hearts, you'll listen to his story. 1813 F. Douce tr. in H. Ellis Brand's Observ. Pop. Antiq. (rev. ed.) I. 373 Lordings, in these realms of pleasure Father Christmas yearly dwells. 1860 Christmas Tree 190 Hail, Father Christmas! Come, and bring Thine ancient merriment and glee. 1864 R. Chambers Bk. of Days II. 740/2 Old Father Christmas, bearing, as emblematic devices, the holly bough, wassail-bowl, &c. 1919 Punch 24 Dec. 538 Uncle James (who after hours of making up rather fancies himself as Father Christmas). 1927 A. A. Milne Now we are Six 4 And oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all, Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball! 1992 R. Graef Living Dangerously i. 39 I felt badly at having dented his excitement, as though I'd told him there was no Father Christmas. 2009 N. Devon Jrnl. (Nexis) 23 Dec. 31 You couldn't have everything you asked for, darling. How would Father Christmas fit it all down the chimney? father complex n. [after German Vaterkomplex (1909 or earlier in Freud)] Psychology a complex (complex n. 3) which centres on a person's father. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > with father father complex1910 father fixation1916 1910 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 21 602 It may, perhaps, be surprising to some readers that nothing has been said about any of the specifically Freudian complexes, such as the wish-complex, the sexual-complex, or the father-complex. 1922 D. H. Lawrence England my England 20 Let the psychoanalysts talk about father complex. It is just a word invented. 1950 J. Strachey tr. S. Freud Totem & Taboo iv. 143 The same contradictory feelings which we can see at work in the ambivalent father-complexes of our children and of our neurotic patients. 2002 B. Harris Sacred Selfishness xi. 325 In the case of a father complex, a man or woman has trouble believing in his or her own strength, competence, and importance. father-dust n. rare (chiefly literary) pollen. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [noun] > parts of > stamen or pistil > pollen and related parts sandarac1623 globulet1671 powder1672 bread1682 farina1721 pollen1723 father-dust1728 rough wax1744 yellow rain1755 dust1776 fovilla1793 anther dust1797 pollen mass1828 pollen tube1830 intextine1835 pollen grain1835 pollen granule1835 exine1839 exintine1839 intine1839 pollinium1849 sulphur shower1854 pollinic mass1857 pollen chamber1863 smoke1868 pollen sac1872 pollinarium1881 sulphur rain1882 pollinic chamber1885 perine1895 pollen content1926 sculpturing1943 monad1947 nexine1948 sexine1948 1728 J. Thomson Spring 27 From Family diffus'd To Family, as flies the Father-Dust, The varied Colours run. 1893 Ann. Rep. Nebraska State Hort. Soc. 125 When the pollen is ripe, ready for proper fertilization, nature places a tiny drop of nectar just at the base of the petals, on which the pollen or father dust is grown. 1945 A. Young Prospect of Flowers xiii. 91 For this refreshment the flower asks no payment; it hopes the insect will not be too tidy at its meal, but smeared with the fertilizing pollen, the ‘Father-Dust’, convey it to another flower of the same kind. father figure n. [compare German Vaterfigur (1865 or earlier)] a person who is regarded as having some of the characteristics, esp. benevolence or authority, thought to be typical of a father, spec. one who acts as an emotional substitute for a father. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] > father-figure father figure1916 1916 C. V. Vechten Music & Bad Manners 138 We are all familiar with the Bayreuth version of Wotan in Die Walküre which makes of that tragic father-figure a boisterous, silly old scold. 1957 Ann. Reg. 1956 168 President Eisenhower..was also something of a ‘father figure’ whose personality inspired such confidence as often to serve as a substitute for a policy. 1996 Big Issue 2 Dec. 5/1 Thompson is remembered as a father figure to the young people who flood in to the cardboard city beneath Waterloo's Bullring. 2007 Voice 16 Apr. 30/2 I honestly do feel that my boys are missing out big time on that father figure. father fixation n. [compare German Vaterfixierung (1922 or earlier in Freud)] Psychology a fixation (fixation n. 3b) on one's father. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > with father father complex1910 father fixation1916 1916 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 27 380 He preserved his infantile mother-fixation just as Sophie preserved her father-fixation, and therefore each fulfilled the other's ideal. 1939 G. Greene Confidential Agent i. ii. 86 I'm not romantic. This is what's called a father-fixation. 2008 Herald Sun (Austral.) (Nexis) 15 Feb. 5 ‘Since this is partly about sex appeal,’ I began, ‘I think it's important that you pick someone who registers with the many young women who have a father fixation.’ father-fixated adj. Psychology fixated on one's father (see fixate v. 3b). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [adjective] > obsessed with > father father-fixated1934 1934 Calif. & Western Med. 40 95/1 A father-fixated woman usually finds it much easier to place her confidence in a middle-aged, fatherly appearing male. 1961 Times 20 Sept. 16/5 The father-fixated daughter. 2008 A. Auster & L. Quart Thirtysomething p. xxiii His [sc. Blake Carrington's] daughter, the father-fixated Fallon. † Father-forger n. Obsolete rare a person who counterfeits writings of the Christian Fathers (see sense 8b); = Father-breeder n. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > faking of documents > [noun] > forger, falsifier > of writings of the fathers Father-breeder1624 Father-forger1624 1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 64 Our Popish Father-forgers have set out divers things. Father General n. (also with lower-case initials) the head of a religious order or community, esp. the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > [noun] > Jesuit Father General1581 black pope1851 1581 E. Campion in M. Hanmer Great Bragge & Challenge Confuted f. 8 I toke my voyage from Prage to Rome where our sayde Father Generall is alwaye resident. 1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1326/1 Their father generall deliuering them what he hath in office. 1679 I. Bargrave tr. F. Micanzio Exact Discov. Myst. Iniquity 16 All these..do serve as Intelligencers to the Father General. 1762 T. Flloyd tr. N. L. Dufresnoy Chronological Tables I. p. lxvii It happened sometime before, the father-general of the jesuits had obliged him to go into the world. 1885 Franciscan Ann. 9 380 The Father General of the Franciscan Capuchins in the East. 1996 M. D. Russell Sparrow xiii. 114 The Father General..was a man of great spirituality and almost no business sense. father image n. Psychology = father-imago n. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > influential image > of parent > of father father image1912 father-imago1913 1912 Jrnl. Abnormal Psychol. 7 210 The uncle in the dream probably had a triple determination: first, through a decomposition of the father image as in myth production. 1956 E. L. Mascall Christian Theol. & Nat. Sci. vi. 217 As soon as he [sc. Freud] had convinced himself that the idea of God was the projection of a father-image in a wish-fulfilment. 2002 Jrnl. Palestine Stud. 31 72 So all these are different meanings of power, especially in light of the demolition of the father image in the eyes of the children. father-imago n. Psychology an imago (imago n. 2) of one's father. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > influential image > of parent > of father father image1912 father-imago1913 1913 Proc. Amer. Medico-psychol. Assoc. 69th Ann. Meeting 157 But we must remember that we are, in this, dealing with an infantile attachment..and that love, with the attributes which belong to it, is more or less centered upon the father imago. 1943 Horizon Oct. 252 Dramas of the soul which aspired either to destroy or reach beyond the traditional father-imago. 2001 D. Mathers Introd. Meaning & Purpose Analyt. Psychol. 81 A persecuting internal object (father-imago) was projectively identified into men. † father-queller n. [originally after classical Latin patricīda patricide n.²; compare also classical Latin parricīda parricide n.¹] Obsolete a person who kills a father; a parricide. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > killing > killer for specific reason or type of person > [noun] > of relatives > of parent > of father father-queller1440 patricide1593 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 145 Fader qwellare, patricida. 1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips f. 22^v A most arrant father queller. a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 280 They would never endure Father-quellers to rule over them. father right n. [after German Vaterrecht (1856 or earlier in this sense); compare mother-right n. 2] chiefly Anthropology and Sociology the custom by which descent and inheritance follows the male line in a family or dynasty. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > rule or government of family or tribe > [noun] > patriarchy or patriarchalism paternity1614 patriarchya1626 patriarchate1727 patriarchalism1841 father-rule1888 father right1899 1899 F. W. Moore tr. L. Gumplowicz Outl. Sociol. i. 53 He [sc. J. Lippert] goes on to show the rising ‘father right’ [Ger. ‘Vaterrecht’]. 1907 Folk-lore June 245 The passage from motherright to fatherright. 1955 M. Gluckman Custom & Confl. Afr. iii. 73 The two contrasting types of kinship system, extreme father-right and extreme matriliny, are built up on the same principle: the link of mother to child. 2002 Econ. & Polit. Weekly 20 Apr. 1546/1 The idea of the struggle between the sexes—where the ‘mother right’ eventually ceded to the ‘father right’. father-rule n. [perhaps after German Vaterherrschaft (1883 or earlier in this sense)] chiefly Anthropology and Sociology the rule of the father of a family as distinguished from the rule of the male relatives of the mother where descent follows the female line; patriarchy. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > rule or government of family or tribe > [noun] > patriarchy or patriarchalism paternity1614 patriarchya1626 patriarchate1727 patriarchalism1841 father-rule1888 father right1899 1888 Current Lit. Oct. 303/2 The changes relating to property which the establishment of father-rule brought about. 1899 F. W. Moore tr. L. Gumplowicz Outl. Sociol. iii. 112 It is recognized that mother-rule everywhere gave place to father-rule. 2002 R. A. Schoenherr Goodbye Father xiv. 207 As a social institution, father-rule is a massive structure, solidly based on the millennia-deep, worldwide bedrock of patriarchy. † fathersick adj. [after homesick adj.] Obsolete pining for or missing one's father. ΚΠ 1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. lix. 281 So father-sick! so family-fond! 1923 L. M. Montgomery Emily of New Moon vi. 60 I guess I'm Fathersick, Aunt Elizabeth. Didn't you feel awfully lonely when your father died? father-substitute n. [after German Vatersurrogat (see father-surrogate n.)] originally Psychology a person who becomes the object of emotions which are usually directed towards a father; a person who stands in for, or assumes the emotional role of, a father. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] > father-substitute father-surrogate1916 father-substitute1917 1917 C. R. Payne tr. O. Pfister Psychoanalytic Method x. 250 Heine's distinguished father-substitute [Ger. Vatersurrogat], the uncle,..would have preferred to behave as a stranger toward the poorly clad poet. 1938 F. L. Lucas Delights of Dictatorship ii. 46 The hysteria that can find in the Head of that State [sc. the U.S.S.R.] a dream-husband, a father-substitute,..a God. 1949 E. Coxhead Wind in West vi. 156 He had almost detached himself from Mother... Transference to a father-substitute was plainly the next stage. 2008 J. Updike Widows of Eastwick i. 4 The four stepchildren..she saddled him with couldn't have asked for a calmer, more soothingly taciturn father-substitute. father-surrogate n. originally Psychology a person who becomes the object of emotions which are usually directed towards a father; a person who stands in for, or assumes the emotional role of, a father; = father-substitute n. [Partly after German Vatersurrogat (1909 in the passage translated in quot. 1916, or earlier), and partly (in later use) after German Vaterersatz (1910 or earlier in Freud).] ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun] > father-substitute father-surrogate1916 father-substitute1917 1916 C. E. Long tr. C. G. Jung Coll. Papers Analyt. Psychol. iii. 162 The sexuality which announced itself so late and so drastically, even here only led to a deteriorated edition of the father-surrogate [Ger. des Vatersurrogates]. 1950 J. Strachey tr. S. Freud Totem & Taboo iv. 148 The totem may be the first form of father-surrogate [Ger. die erste Form des Vaterersatzes]. 1957 N. Frye Anat. Crit. 165 The fury with which these characters are baited..shows that they are father-surrogates. 2009 Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (Nexis) 12 June e10 Gruff, good-hearted Sasaki becomes a sort of father-surrogate to the younger man. † father-waur adj. Scottish Obsolete worse than one's father; degenerate. [Compare father-better adj., and also Old Icelandic fǫður-verringr (noun) degenerate son.] ΚΠ a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Trial of Fox l. 801 in Poems (1981) 34 Ane sone, the quhilk..till his name was callit Father-war. 1581 J. Hamilton Catholik Traictise f. 147^v Luther the eldest sone of sathan..and his sone naturall fatheruar Iohne Caluine. a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) I. l. 6669 Think on oure fatheris and thair nobill deidis, And lat ws nocht be cawit fader war. b. Compounds with simple unmarked genitive father.Compare discussion in etymology section. † father-brother n. [compare Middle Low German vāderbrōder, German Vaterbruder (beginning of the 16th century)] Obsolete (Scottish in later use) a paternal uncle; cf. father-sister n. and also mother brother n. ΚΠ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. xx. 20 He þat gooþ to gedere wiþ þe wife of his fader broþer [L. patrui] or of his vncle & openeþ þe sheenscheep of his kynredene boþe þei shal bere þer synne. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. vi. 37 We stand content..That ay remane the chaste Proserpina Within hir fader broderis boundis and ryng. 1609 J. Skene tr. Regiam Majestatem 33 The father brother of the fathers side. 1644 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1872) IV. 34 Mr James Reid..hade caused lay his vmquhill father and..his father brother, vnder the said stane. 1681 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. xxx. §32. 170 Our Custom hath according to the course of the Law of Nature, found the Father to be Heir to his Son, and not the Father-brother, or any of his Descendents. † father-sister n. [compare Middle Low German vādersüster] Obsolete (Scottish in later use) a paternal aunt; cf. father-brother n. and also mother-sister n. at mother n.¹ Compounds 5a. ΚΠ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 399 Nero slouȝ meny noblemen and Livia Octavianus his wif, his owne moder Agrippina, and his fadir suster [L. soror patris sui] and his wif. 1563 in J. S. Clouston Rec. Earldom of Orkney (1914) 13 The..dewiding of thayre fathyre-systyre lands. 1597 J. Skene De Verborum Significatione at Eneya The father sister and her bairnes suld succeede. c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1851) II. 296 Ye hard befoir..how the Lord Gordoun rode to Lessmoir to viseit his father-sister. 1672 in M. P. Brown Suppl. Dict. Decis. Court of Session (1826) II. 160 At the time of the daughter's decease, the late President, and the relict of William Baillie, being father-brother and father-sister to the daughter, were nearest of kin. c. Compounds with the marked genitive form father's. Father's Day n. originally U.S. a day on which fathers are particularly honoured: in North America, South Africa, and Britain, usually the third Sunday in June, in Australia, the first Sunday in September; cf. Mother's Day n. 1.The idea of having a national day on which to honour fathers was first proposed by Mrs. John Bruce Dodd of Spokane, Washington (see, e.g., quot. 1911), although it wasn't widely observed in the United States until the 1930s. ΘΚΠ the world > time > period > year > [noun] > specific days of the year Candlemas1014 May Day1267 All Souls' Dayc1300 midsummer evena1400 firstc1400 Beltane1424 midsummer eve1426 quarter day1435 Beltane1456 mid-Sundaya1475 madding-day1568 Lord Mayor's day1591 Barnaby bright1595 Lammas-eve1597 All Saints' Night1607 Handsel Monday1635 distaff's day1648 long Barnabya1657 St. Valentine's eve1671 leet-day1690 All Fools' Day1702 Boxing Day1743 April Fool's Day1748 Royal Oak Day1759 box day1765 Oak-apple Day1802 All Souls' Eve1805 mischief night1830 Shick-shack Day1847 chalk-back day1851 call night1864 Nut-Monday1867 Arbor Day1872 April Fool's1873 Labour Day1884 Martinmas Sunday1885 call day1886 Samhain1888 Juneteenth1890 Mother's Day1890 Father's Day1908 Thinking Day1927 Punkie night1931 Tweede Nuwejaar1947 1908 Boston Daily Globe 19 May 10/3 Why doesn't somebody suggest the idea of having a ‘Fathers' day’, when everybody in the country shall wear a modest violet in honor of poor Father? 1911 Med. Sentinel May 275 The churches of Spokane, at the suggestion of Mrs. John Bruce Dodd, of that city, have appointed the third Sunday of every June as ‘Fathers Day’. 1936 N.Y. Times 14 June f9/4 Last year the promotion of Father's Day alone was credited with jumping sales volume on an average of about 35 per cent over the preceding week. 1963 New Yorker 15 June 82 What an inspired idea for Father's Day! 2001 Independent 13 June ii. 7/2 We all know the items that get..dusted down again for Father's Day. Yes: gardening gloves, slippers, home-brewing kits and novelty golf memorabilia. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022). fatherv. Brit. /ˈfɑːðə/, U.S. /ˈfɑðər/ Forms: see father n. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: father n. Etymology: < father n. 1. a. transitive. To be or become the father of; to beget. Also with †of, on, specifying the mother of the child so fathered. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > multiply or reproduce [verb (transitive)] > beget sowc1250 getc1300 begeta1325 engenderc1330 conceivec1350 makea1382 wina1400 fathera1425 rutc1450 tread1594 sirea1616 engraff1864 a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 47^v Parento, to fadren & modren. ?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 43^v To ffadyr, genitor. 1591 F. Sparry tr. C. de Cattan Geomancie 81 If the childe be right fathered. 1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iii. 34 Ismael..lives to father mighty Progenies. a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. ii. 26 Cowards father Cowards, & Base things Syre Bace. 1706 E. Ward Rambling Fuddle-caps 20 Sure never poor Mortal e'er father'd before, Such a Rakehelly Rogue. 1779 Mirror No. 23. (1786) 167 Having made an elopement with his mother's maid, and fathered three children of other people, he got the appellation of a dissipated dog. 1877 S. Lanier Florida Sunday in Poems 103 I am one with all the kinsmen things That e'er my Father fathered. 1884 Ld. Tennyson Becket iii. iii. 136 Had I fathered him I had given him more of the rod than the sceptre. 1939 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xvii. 266 A man might have a willing girl if he stayed with her, if he fathered her children and protected them. 1960 G. T. Wright Poet in Poem iv. 150 Sigismondo fathered his children on other women, notably on Isotta degli Atti, a lady of Rimini. 1978 J. A. Sanford Dreams & Healing xx. 150 The Christ child is fathered by the Holy Spirit and not by an ordinary mortal man. 2012 Independent 25 Apr. 17/3 The woman who accused him of fathering her child. b. transitive. figurative. To originate, bring into existence; to be the author of (a doctrine, statement, etc.). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > contrive, devise, or invent [verb (transitive)] findeOE conceive1340 seek1340 brewc1386 divine1393 to find outc1405 to search outc1425 to find up?c1430 forgec1430 upfindc1440 commentc1450 to dream out1533 inventa1538 father1548 spina1575 coin1580 conceit1591 mint1593 spawn1594 cook1599 infantize1619 fabulize1633 notionate1645 to make upc1650 to spin outa1651 to cook up1655 to strike out1735 mother1788 to think up1855 to noodle out1950 gin1980 1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse sig. Diii The true meanyng of them, who fathered the Canon. a1576 W. Bullein Dial. Sorenes f. xxiiij^v, in Bulwarke Def. (1579) Some [sc. vlcers] bee fathered of an hotte, and some of a colde humour. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 91 When some grave personage fathereth a lie. 1685 T. Mills Hist. Holy War 14 To..render himself the more capable of fathering a Plot of his own begetting. 1734 H. Carey Trag. Chrononhotonthologos 11 Thou Counsell'st well, my Rigdum Funnidos, And Reason seems to father thy Advice. 1759 Conduct & Treatm. J. Crookshanks 121 He very well knew that Lieutenant had fathered a Letter, which,..had fallen into his Lordship's Hands. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Love & Duty in Poems (new ed.) II. 83 Shall Error in the round of time Still father Truth? 1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke I. vii. 117 As wild Icarias..as ever were fathered by a red Republic. 1931 R. E. Finley Lady of Godey's iii. 42 Phineas Taylor Barnum fathered the American circus. 1958 J. K. Galbraith Affluent Society xi. 126 The urge to consume is fathered by the value system which emphasizes the ability of society to produce. 2014 P. C. Godfrey More than Money ix. 159 Watt fathered the engine and Boulton acted as midwife. 2. transitive. To act as a father to; to look after.In quot. 1577: to carry out (a law). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > carrying out > execute, perform, or carry out [verb (transitive)] > a command or law fulfila1225 servea1325 fathera1425 practisea1464 actuate1594 the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > care for, protect, or have charge of [verb (transitive)] > affectionately or tenderly > like a father or mother fathera1616 mother1863 a1425 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Cambr. Ff.5.35) (1873) C. i. l. 120 (MED) I seye, ȝe prestus..ȝe schul fader hem fro þe fende to folwe goddus wille. 1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Rom. xi. f. xxxii For God doth not in suche sorte promise to do any thyng, nor in suche sorte fathereth his children. 1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. ii. viii. sig. M.viij^v/1 Suppose..there were no magistrate to execute and as it were to father those lawes. a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. ii. 397 I good youth, And rather Father thee, then Master thee. View more context for this quotation 1648 Mercurius Britanicus No. 7. 53 People that had children at home to father, and which were unwilling to suffer under any other Character then what their Divinity-men told them was fit for them. 1721 in W. M. Myddelton Chirk Castle Accts. 7 July (1931) II. 433 P^d Jane Smith for Fathering y^e Cattle all winter at her Barn being 5 Cows. 1783 R. Cumberland Mysterious Husband i. i. 13 I chose my Lord Davenant here, a man of a certain age, a widower, d'ye see; not only fit to husband you, Louisa, but to father you. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 May 3/1 The way in which Khama fathers his people. 1903 ‘S. G. Tallentyre’ Life Voltaire II. xxxix. 223 He worked with them, corrected them, praised them,..financed them, fathered them, housed them, and in the desire for their fame quite forgot his own. 1998 J. W. Lango in J. G. Haber & M. S. Halfon Norms & Values xix. 253 When Prospero feels pleasure in fathering Miranda, he has a subjective experience. And when she feels pleasure in being fathered by him, she has a subjective experience. 3. a. transitive. To appear to be, or acknowledge oneself as, the father of (a child). Also: to adopt (a child). Also figurative. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > fatherhood > be a father [verb (transitive)] > appear as father of father?a1425 ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 142 (MED) On þis wise may þai fader anoþer mannez childe. a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. x. 98 Godys and myn, she says it is! I wyll not fader it! 1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) vi. xxx. 132 Who so the Childe shall git..Vulcan..shall father it. 1678 J. Dryden in T. Shadwell True Widow sig. A3^v He's a Sot, Who needs will Father what the Parish got. 1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 252 I would Father no Brats that were not of my own getting. 1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. ii. 12 Use will father what's begot by Sense. 1764 F. C. Sheridan Dupe v. v. 63 And pray whose is this child, Sir John, that you are to father? 1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 8 The charge of..fathering a supposititious child. 2013 Afr. News (Nexis) 14 Sept. Personally, I advise childless couples to consider adoption but in my home town adoption is actually a taboo. My people believe it is wrong to father another man's child. †b. transitive. To acknowledge oneself as the originator or author of; to take responsibility for; to adopt. Also: to represent oneself as the owner of. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > originate or be a source of [verb (transitive)] > attribute to an author or source > acknowledge oneself as the author or source of father1556 1556 J. Ponet Shorte Treat. Politike Power sig. Iv For whan he had wrought and made sure the great mariage to auoide the hatred of the people, he made his scholar to father it, and to haue the outwarde thankes. 1589 tr. Tsar Feodor I Let. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations 824 They shal not..father any other mens goods, but their owne. 1634 J. Canne Necessitie of Separation v. 217 The report goes, that he was not the..author of it, but another did it, and gott him to father it. 1663 J. Birkenhead Assembly-man To Rdr. Unwilling to father other mens sins. 1713 J. Swift Part of 7th Epist. Horace Imitated 5 Men of Wit, Who often father'd what he writ. 1764 E. Seymour Compl. Hist. Eng. II. 365/2 With regard to the sinking fund, Sir Robert Walpole observed, that he remembered the time, when the establishment of that scheme was treated as a ridiculous project, and then he was obliged to father it. 1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xx. 498 By these two distinguished men Paterson's scheme was fathered. Montague undertook to manage the House of Commons, Godfrey to manage the City. 1871 C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David II. Ps. xliv (heading) No other writer should be sought for to father any of the Psalms, when David will suffice. †4. transitive. With complement: to assert (something) to have the origin specified; to declare to have been originally. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > assertion or affirmation > [verb (transitive)] > assert to be something in origin father1471 to grandfather (a thing) on1888 1471 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 567 I am sory that ye haue fadyrd my hors..to be my brodyr Edmundys. 1606 W. Warner Continuance Albions Eng. xiv. lxxxiii. 346 The Scots..do father it The Stone that Iacob..Did sleepe vpon. a1652 I. Jones Most Notable Antiq. called Stone-Heng (1655) 19 Geffrey Monmouth's Authority..was the first,..that father'd Stoneheng their monument. 5. a. transitive. With on, upon. To ascribe (a thing) to a specified person as his or her production or work; to attribute the authorship of (something) to a specified person. Also formerly with of, specifying the person. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > originate or be a source of [verb (transitive)] > attribute to an author or source refera1398 reducec1454 father?1499 entitle1550 intitule1559 foist1598 attribute1599 mother1645 authoridate1652 accredit1864 ?1499 (?a1440) S. Winter tr. St. Ierom (de Worde) sig. Cii^v The said herytyke aledged ayenst vs the said tretice that he fadred vpon gloryous Ierome Siluayn. 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. xxii. f. 11 This saiying..is fathered on Socrates. 1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse sig. Iviii The canones whiche the catholiques father of y^e apostles. 1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. D It is a likely report, that they Father on him. 1696 W. Nicolson Eng. Hist. Libr. I. 122 He might possibly have been impos'd upon by those that had given the Name of that Author to such Anonymous Collections as they knew not how truly to Father. a1722 J. Toland Coll. Several Pieces (1726) I. 42 It is difficult to know certainly what were his real atchievments, or what were fabulously father'd upon him. 1764 B. Franklin Narr. Massacres Lancaster County 13 To father the worst of Crimes on the God of Peace. 1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi xix. 398 And coolly fathered the traffic on the Missionaries. 1910 Trans. & Proc. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 41 11 I call your attention for a moment to the jest of Anacharsis, or rather, of the unknown Greeks who fathered it on Anacharsis. 1970 L. R. N. Ashley George Peele ii. 42 Many critics, while admitting that the Jests are facetiæ of very ancient vintage, think it significant that they were fathered on Peele. †b. transitive. With on, upon. To attribute (something) to a specified source or origin; to trace the origin of (something) to a specified source. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > originate or be a source of [verb (transitive)] > derive, come from, or originate in fet1393 to take one's spring from (also out of)c1440 to come out of ——1481 extract1490 deduct1530 fetch1552 desume1564 deduce1565 father1577 derive1600 traduce1615 raisea1631 originate1653 to be sourced in1941 1577 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. Ephesians v. f. 31 But S. Paule in that place speaketh alonely of the forgiuing of our sinnes, and of our imbracing of Gods grace by fayth: which things he sheweth cannot bee fathered vppon any other cause, than onely Gods pitying of vs. 1608 Yorkshire Trag. sig. B3 Fathering his ryots one his youth. 1680 R. Boyle Sceptical Chymist (new ed.) vi. 433 Such Phantastick and Un-intelligible Discourses..father'd upon such excellent Experiments. 1702 Eng. Theophrastus 270 We father upon love several dealings and intercourses in which it is not concerned. 1775 J. W. Fletcher in R. Hill & J. W. Fletcher Fictitious & Genuine Creed Pref. p. vi The principle, on which such a doctrine might be justly fathered. †c. transitive. With on, upon. To impose (something) on something else; to attach to. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > existence > extrinsicality or externality > be extrinsic or external [verb (intransitive)] > attach or be added to something or intervene knit1571 intervene1605 advene1651 father1760 accrete1821 1760 T. Flloyd Bibliotheca Biographica III. at Hutchinson (John) He taught our author..as much as he could see there was any use for either upon the earth or in the heaven, without poisoning him with any false notions fathered upon the mathematics. 1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xvii. 47 This interpretation has been fathered upon them. 1874 H. R. Reynolds John the Baptist iii. §1. 147 (note) Some attempt to father on the Christian Church the limitations and orders of the Jewish priesthood. 1885 Law Times 79 190/2 The word ‘land’ is to bear the meaning which is fathered upon it by sub-sect. 10 (i.). †6. a. transitive. To fix or pin the paternity of (a child) on (also upon) a person. Also (without construction): to name or declare the father of (a child). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > fatherhood > be a father [verb (transitive)] > fix paternity father1570 affiliate1798 filiate1824 1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Gi/1 To Father, patrem nominare. 1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. i. i. 2/1 Brute should haue had more sons fathered on him. 1625 K. Long tr. J. Barclay Argenis ii. xxii. 141 Neptvne, vpon whom..our Ancestors haue fathered all the men of extraordinary huge stature. 1679 ‘Democritus Junior’ Versatile Ingenium 65 A Strumpet would have fathered a child on Aristippus. 1768 R. Hill Pietas Oxoniensis 16 Both young and old have had lewd women come to them in college, who have fathered children on them. 1780 in W. E. Tate Parish Chest (1969) ii. viii. 219 A Journey with Ann fox to Father her Childe her examination a Warrant and Expenses 0. 5. 0. 1803 in W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border (ed. 2) II. 248 Father my bairn on whom I will, I'll father nane on thee. 1885 Daily News 13 Mar. 7/3 He advised her to father her child. 1918 J. G. Frazer Folk-lore in Old Test. II. iii. i. 447 In due time she gave birth to twin boys. She fathered them on the god Mars, but her hard-hearted uncle refused to admit the plea. b. transitive (reflexive). To indicate or reveal who one's father is. Frequently figurative: to indicate one's origin or authorship. Obsolete (regional in later use). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > fatherhood > be a father [verb (reflexive)] > indicate one's paternity father1600 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing i. i. 104 The Lady fathers her selfe: be happy Lady, for you are like an honourable father. View more context for this quotation 1707 M. Henry Expos. Five Bks. Moses Pref. sig. A2^v The Image of his Holiness is in the unspotted Purity of its Precepts;..in short, 'tis a work that fathers it self. 1808 W. Scott Let. 15 Dec. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Sir W. Scott (1837) II. vi. 219 This spirited composition, as we say in Scotland, fathers itself in the manliness of its style. 1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) at Fadder A child having features resembling those of its father ‘fadders it sel’. 1894 R. R. Michaux Sketches Life N. Carolina i. 60 It [sc. another letter of Christ] claims to have been found originally in the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem... It fathers itself in the following paragraph. c. transitive. To trace the father of. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > fatherhood > be a father [verb (transitive)] > trace father of father1680 1680 Bp. G. Burnet Some Passages Life Earl of Rochester 14 A Child is fathered sometimes by its resemblance. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.eOEv.a1425
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fathern.

Phrases

Compounds

fatherv.