Meanings
founding father1
Founding Father2
plural Founding Fathers
- USin pluralAny of the men who were responsible for the founding of the United States of America, especially political leaders who drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution and military leaders who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
1 more example
At the heart of it, I thought of the Great Society as an extension of the Bill of Rights. When our fundamental American rights were set forth by the Founding Fathers, they reflected the concerns of a people who sought freedom in their time. But in our time a broadened concept of freedom requires that every American have the right to a healthy body, a full education, a decent home, and the opportunity to develop to the best of his talents.
1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 104
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna person who founds or establishes some institution
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Coined by American politician Warren G. Harding in his keynote speech at the 1916 Republican National Convention, when he was a U.S. senator.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan pare fundador
- pare fundadorman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Chinese Mandarin 國父 /国父
- 國父 /国父 (Guófù)man who founded something
Czech otec zakladatel
- otec zakladatelman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Dutch stamvader
- stamvaderman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Finnish perustaja, perustajaisä
- perustajaman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
- perustajaisäman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
French père fondateur
- père fondateurman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
German Gründervater, Gründungsvater
- Gründervaterman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
- Gründungsvaterman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
- Gründervater der USAman who founded something
Hungarian alapító atya
- alapító atyaman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Indonesian peletak dasar, bapak pendiri
- peletak dasarman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
- bapak pendiriman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Italian padre fondatore
- padre fondatoreman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Polish ojciec założyciel
- ojciec założycielman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Portuguese pai fundador
- pai fundadorman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Russian оте́ц-основа́тель
- оте́ц-основа́тель (otéc-osnovátelʹ)man who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Slovak otec zakladateľ
- otec zakladateľman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Spanish padre fundador
- padre fundadorman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Swedish grundare
- grundareman who founded something — see also founding mother, founder
Cite this entry
founding father. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/founding%20father
“founding father.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/founding%20father. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “founding father,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/founding%20father.
Source: founding father on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.