noun

father

FAH-thuh

noun

A male parent.

"Her father taught her how to ride a bike."

"He became a father for the first time last spring."

A person seen as the founder or leading figure of something.

"He is often called the father of modern computing."

A title of respect for a priest.

"Father Michael led the Sunday service."

verb

To be the male parent of a child.

"He fathered three children over the course of his first marriage."

How to Use Father

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA male parent — or, more broadly, someone who founded or led the way in something.

Common pairings

father figure founding father father of three

fathered past tense, fathers plural, Fathers plural, fathers singular

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Her _____ taught her how to ride a bike.

From Old English fæder, from a very old Indo-European root shared with Latin pater and Greek patēr.

ayr ba baba da dad dada daddio daddy old man fatherling pa pap

mother son daughter child

motherfucker husband yes mother child son daughter grandfather

lather rather gather Mather leather weather feather heather breather godfather stepfather Mayweather

ayr ba baba da dad dada daddio daddy old man fatherling pa pap