fa·ther (fä'THər)
n.

1. 1. A male person whose sperm unites with an egg, resulting in the conception of a child.
   2. A man who adopts a child.
   3. A man who raises a child.
2. A male parent of an animal.
3. A male ancestor.
4. A man who creates, originates, or founds something: Chaucer is considered the father of English poetry.
5. An early form; a prototype.
6. Father Christianity.
   1. God.
   2. The first person of the Christian Trinity.
7. An elderly or venerable man. Used as a title of respect.
8. A member of the senate in ancient Rome.
9. One of the leading men, as of a city: the town fathers.
10. or Father A church father.
11. (Abbr. Fr.)
    1. A priest or clergyman in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.
    2. Used as a title and form of address with or without the clergyman's name.

v., -thered, -ther·ing, -thers.

v.tr.

1. To procreate (offspring) as the male parent.
2. To act or serve as a father to (a child).
3. To create, found, or originate.
4. To acknowledge responsibility for.
5. 1. To attribute the paternity, creation, or origin of.
   2. To assign falsely or unjustly; foist.

v.intr.
To act or serve as a father.

[Middle English fader, from Old English fæder.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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