Etymology

father

fa·ther
F4A1T1H4E1R1

Today it means: A male parent, especially of a human; a male who parents a child (which he has sired, adopted, fostered, etc.). Full definition →

Middle English fader ← Old English fæder ← Proto-West Germanic *fader
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father · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*peh₂-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ph₂tḗr
  3. Proto-Germanic*fadēr
  4. Proto-West Germanic*fader
  5. Old Englishfæder
  6. Middle Englishfader
  7. English todayfather

Inherited from Middle English fader, from Old English fæder, from Proto-West Germanic *fader, from Proto-Germanic *fadēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr, possibly from *peh₂- + *-tḗr. Doublet of ayr, faeder, athair, padre, pater, and père.

Father · proper noun, noun2

See father.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.