Father Meaning
/ˈfɑː.ðə(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA male parent, especially of a human; a male who parents a child (which he has sired, adopted, fostered, taken as his own, etc.).
nounA male who has sired a baby; this person in relation to his child or children.
Sentence Examples
Like father, like son.
You ought to have taken your father's advice.
She wanted to avoid another confrontation with her father.
CEFR Practice Quiz
My ____ taught me how to ride a bicycle when I was five years old.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her ____ taught her how to play the piano when she was just a young girl in elementary school.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-? Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr Proto-Germanic *fadēr Proto-West Germanic *fader Old English fæder Middle English fader English father Inherited from Middle English fader, from Old English fæder, from Proto-West Germanic *fader, from Proto-Germanic *fadēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr, from possibly *peh₂- + *-tḗr. Doublet of ayr, faeder, athair, padre, pater, and père.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The Pꝛouerbes of Solomon: A wiſe ſonne maketh a glad father: but a fooliſh sonne is the heauineſſe of his mother."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 10:1:
"When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit, Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"Ah, but how beautiful (my baby boy) is! And he is mine, mine for ever. Even if he hates me he will be mine. He cannot help it, he is made out of me; I am his father."
— 1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 7
"My personal success or failure is insignificant; the rise or fall of the nation is my responsibility and must not be shirked. Upon introspection, I feel I am firmer than ever in confidence that the Communists will be defeated. These are feelings which will comfort Father's soul in Heaven."
— 1980 August 1 [1980 May 1], Ching-kuo Chiang, “President Chiang Ching-kuo continues his period of mourning and finds that visits to countryside and people give him renewed strength”, in Taiwan Today, archived from the original on 17 May 2020:
"Father, dear father
Will you be proud of me?
I wish I could be
Just like you."
— 2010 April 7, “My First Borrowing”, in Cécile Corbel (lyrics), Cécile Corbel and Simon Caby (music), 借りぐらし Kari-gurashi [The Borrowers] (CD), performed by Cécile Corbel, Yamaha Music Communications:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
My ____ taught me how to ride a bicycle when I was five years old.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her ____ taught her how to play the piano when she was just a young girl in elementary school.