papa

pa·pa
P3A1P3A1
UK/pəˈpɑː/US/ˈpɑːpə/

noun

Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.

Similar
daddadadaddypapappapop
OriginFrench papa ← Middle French papa →
CommonScrabble 8
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

papa1

nounpapa (plural papas)

plural papas · alternative pappa

  1. childishoftenDad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
  2. informalA pet name for one's grandfather.
  3. A parish priest in the Greek Orthodox Church.

    they are all of the Orthodox Church, and obey devoutly the precepts of Papa Athanasius

    1892, Fergus Hume, The Island of Fantasy: A Romance
  4. international standardsAlternative letter-case form of Papa from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.

PAPA2

proper noun
  1. abbreviationacronymAcronym of Professional and Amateur Pinball Association.
nounPAPA (plural PAPAs)

plural PAPAs

  1. Any pinball tournament held under the auspices of the Professional and Amateur Pinball Association.
  2. abbreviationacronymaeronauticsAcronym of Parallax Aircraft Parking Aid.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk

Similar
daddadadaddypapappapop
Broader
fathermale parentbegetter
Also see
daddadadaddyfathergrandfatherold manpapappapa bearpappapawpeepawpeterpop

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Frenchpapa
  2. Frenchpapa
  3. Englishpapa

From French papa, from Middle French papa, from Old French papa, from Latin papa, probably originally a reduplicated imitation of a child's early efforts at vocalising Latin pater (“father”). Compare Ancient Greek πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”).

More words from French, Middle French, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with papa

lapamanaardaspahayaraahtabrazakaallahchafraabashahskamoinahaha
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

poppa (father–bother merger)popper (non-rhotic, father–bother merger)

Anagrams

APAP
Cite this entry
APA

papa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papa

MLA

“papa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papa. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “papa,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/papa.

Source: papa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.