Meanings
padre1
- ChristianityA Roman Catholic or Anglican priest.
The Zuma and Manzo Indians of the area were in the habit of going to the missions in the Spanish provinces below the Rio Grande River to solicit the padres to come to teach and baptize them in their villages.
1979, James Wakefield Burke, A Forgotten Glory: the Missions of Old Texas, Waco, TX: Texian Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 62
Padre2
plural Padres
- ball gamesA player for the San Diego Padres.
Jones became a Padre as the result of a pre-season trade.
Synonyms & antonyms
noun‘Father’ is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); ‘Padre’ is frequently used in the military
nouna chaplain in one of the military services
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpater“father”
- Portuguesepadre“priest”
- Spanishpadre
- Italianpadre
- Englishpadre
Borrowed from Italian padre, Spanish padre, or Portuguese padre (“priest”), which are from Latin pater (“father”). Doublet of ayr, faeder, father, pater, and père.
More words from Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
padre. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/padre
“padre.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/padre. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “padre,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/padre.
Source: padre on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.