One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent. "A wise son maketh a glad father."
2.
A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or family; in the plural, fathers, ancestors. "David slept with his fathers.""Abraham, who is the father of us all."
3.
One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection. "I was a father to the poor.""He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house."
4.
A respectful mode of address to an old man. "And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him (Elisha),... and said, O my father, my father!"
5.
A senator of ancient Rome.
6.
A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a confessor (called also father confessor), or a priest; also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a legislative assembly, etc. "Bless you, good father friar!"
7.
One of the chief ecclesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; often spoken of collectively as the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers.
8.
One who, or that which, gives origin; an originator; a producer, author, or contriver; the first to practice any art, profession, or occupation; a distinguished example or teacher. "The father of all such as handle the harp and organ.""Might be the father, Harry, to that thought.""The father of good news."
9.
The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first person in the Trinity. "Our Father, which art in heaven.""Now had the almighty Father from above... Bent down his eye."
Adoptive father, one who adopts the child of another, treating it as his own.
Apostolic father, Conscript fathers, etc. See under Apostolic, Conscript, etc.
Father in God, a title given to bishops.
Father of lies, the Devil.
Father of the bar, the oldest practitioner at the bar.
Fathers of the city, the aldermen.
Father of the Faithful.
(a)
Abraham.
(b)
Mohammed, or one of the sultans, his successors.
Father of the house, the member of a legislative body who has had the longest continuous service.
Most Reverend Father in God, a title given to archbishops and metropolitans, as to the archbishops of Canterbury and York.
Natural father, the father of an illegitimate child.
Putative father, one who is presumed to be the father of an illegitimate child; the supposed father.
Spiritual father.
(a)
A religious teacher or guide, esp. one instrumental in leading a soul to God.
(b)
(R. C. Ch.) A priest who hears confession in the sacrament of penance.
The Holy Father (R. C. Ch.), the pope.
verb
Father v. t. (past & past part. fathered; pres. part. fathering)
1.
To make one's self the father of; to beget. "Cowards father cowards, and base things sire base."
2.
To take as one's own child; to adopt; hence, to assume as one's own work; to acknowledge one's self author of or responsible for (a statement, policy, etc.). "Men of wit Often fathered what he writ."
3.
To provide with a father. (R.) "Think you I am no stronger than my sex, Being so fathered and so husbanded?"
To father on or To father upon, to ascribe to, or charge upon, as one's offspring or work; to put or lay upon as being responsible. "Nothing can be so uncouth or extravagant, which may not be fathered on some fetch of wit, or some caprice of humor."
... the most successful of the accomplished poets of our nation—Ben Jonson, Cowley, Milton, Marvell, Crashaw, Addison, Gray, Smart, T. Warton, Sir W. Jones, &c.—who have devoted their leisure to this species of composition. Clarendon goes on to say that May was "born to a fortune, if his father had not spent it; so that he had only an annuity left him, not proportionable ... — Notes and Queries, Number 76, April 12, 1851 • Various Read full book for free!
... duels that have sprung from the most degrading causes might be stretched out to an almost indefinite extent. Sterne's father fought a duel about a goose; and the great Raleigh about a tavern bill. [Raleigh, at one period of his life, appeared to be an inveterate duellist, and it was said of him that he had been engaged in more encounters of the kind than any man of note among his contemporaries. More ... — Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions - Vol. I • Charles Mackay Read full book for free!
... with resolution to tell him all. My father was in all probability far away on the billows of the Atlantic. My disclosures could not affect him now. My promise of secrecy did not extend into the future. I would gladly have withheld from my husband ... — Ernest Linwood - or, The Inner Life of the Author • Caroline Lee Hentz Read full book for free!
... still polite, grateful [to us French], overwhelms us with politeness; but flies to Augsburg, as his Father used to do. Notable, however, his poor fat little Mother won't, this time: 'No, I will stay here, I for one, and have done with flying and running; we have had enough of that!' Seckendorf, quite gone from Court in this crisis, reappears, about ... — History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XV. (of XXI.) • Thomas Carlyle Read full book for free!
... wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; 19 speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 subjecting yourselves one to another in the ... — Epistle Sermons, Vol. III - Trinity Sunday to Advent • Martin Luther Read full book for free!
...
Read full book for free!
