Father — English Dictionary

Proper noun

1. God, the father of Creation.

2. God the Father, who eternally begets the Son.

   Related words

   DadDaddyMother

3. One's father.

   Examples

   I will only do what Father asks.

4. One of the triune gods of the Horned God in Wicca, representing a man, younger than the elderly Sage and older than the boyish Master.

   Examples

   ...and our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.

   In respect to our Lord (God), these are the less known Master, Father, and Sage.

Noun

1. A title given to priests.

   Examples

   Father Thomas was a good priest.

   More examples (2)

   Father Smith, the social action director of the archdiocese, and Father William Killian, executive editor of the archdiocesan weekly, went to Brownsville, joined the field workers in picketing, attended several rallies, and marched in an eight-mile “pilgrimage.” They were arrested by local authorities for trespassing on private property and sent back to San Antonio. When Fathers Smith and Killian returned to the valley in early 1967 in defiance of Lucey’s specific orders, Lucey removed Smith as social action director and demoted Killian and several other activist priests for violating protocol.

   On a merchant ship, Father Sinclair had to do safety drills every 10 days. On a fishing vessel, it’s monthly, and there is no requirement to check the log to see if the drill has been done or done correctly.

2. One of the chief ecclesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ.

   Examples

   the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers

3. A title given to the personification of a force of nature or abstract concept, such as Father Time or Father Frost.

4. A senator of Ancient Rome.

   Usage

   • Historical

   Examples

   More examples (3)

   Claudius put a stop to these executions, and the Conscript Fathers, repenting, placed Gallienus among the divi , — which was equivalent to the maintenance of his acts.

   When Romulus had left the earth and had become a god, the Fathers met together and appointed intermediate kings from the senate, to reign in turn each for five days, in the place of the king, till a new king should be chosen.

   His duties were to command the army, to perform certain sacrifices (as high priest), and to preside over the assembly of the Fathers of the families, which was called the Senate, i. e. an assembly of old men (Senex).

Noun

1. ‘Father’ is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); ‘Padre’ is frequently used in the military

   Synonyms

   Padre

   Broader terms

   priesttitletitle of respectform of address

2. (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became Doctor of the Church; the best known Latin Church Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom

   Synonyms

   Church FatherFather of the Church

   Broader terms

   theologiantheologisttheologizertheologiser