Meanings
plural fatherhoods
- countableuncountableThe state of being a father (biological father, stepfather, adoptive father, foster father; sometimes the biological father specifically).
embrace fatherhood
4 more examples
He found that fatherhood changed his priorities.
The book explores the challenges and responsibilities of fatherhood.
experience fatherhood
responsibilities of fatherhood
Synonyms: paternity, fatherness, dadhood
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe state of being a father (biological father, stepfather, adoptive father, foster father; sometimes the biological father specifically).
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe kinship relation between an offspring and the father
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishfaderhode
- Englishfatherhood
From Middle English faderhode, fadirhode, fadirhede, equivalent to father + -hood.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أُبُوَّة
- أُبُوَّة (ʔubuwwa)being a father
Bulgarian ба́щинство
- ба́щинство (báštinstvo)being a father
Catalan paternitat
- paternitatbeing a father
Chinese Mandarin 父性
- 父性 (fùxìng)being a father
Czech otcovství
- otcovstvíbeing a father
Danish faderskab
- faderskabbeing a father
Dutch vaderschap
- vaderschapbeing a father
Esperanto patreco
- patrecobeing a father
Estonian isadus
- isadusbeing a father
Finnish isyys
- isyysbeing a father
French paternité
- paternitébeing a father
German Vaterschaft, Vatersein
- Vaterschaftbeing a father
- Vaterseinbeing a father
- Vatertumbeing a father
Hindi पितृत्व
- पितृत्व (pitŕtva)being a father
Hungarian apaság
- apaságbeing a father
Icelandic faðerni
- faðernibeing a father
Italian paternità
- paternitàbeing a father
Korean 아버지임
- 아버지임 (abeojiim)being a father
Latin paternitās
- paternitāsbeing a father
Norwegian Bokmål farskap
- farskapbeing a father
Polish ojcostwo
- ojcostwobeing a father
Portuguese paternidade
- paternidadebeing a father
Romanian paternitate
- paternitatebeing a father
Russian отцо́вство
- отцо́вство (otcóvstvo)being a father
Spanish paternidad
- paternidadbeing a father
Swahili ubaba
- ubababeing a father
Swedish faderskap
- faderskapbeing a father
Tagalog pagkaama
- pagkaamabeing a father
Turkish babalık
- babalıkbeing a father
Welsh tadolaeth
- tadolaethbeing a father
Cite this entry
fatherhood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fatherhood
“fatherhood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fatherhood. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fatherhood,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fatherhood.
Source: fatherhood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.