Meanings
plural highfathers · alternative high-father · alternative high father
- rareA respected, high-ranking male elder or leader; a patriarch; a forefather; a grandfather.
“I did not lie," said the High Father. “The odds of survival are grim. […]"
2011, Matthew Cody, The Dead Gentleman3 more examples
There is no active worship for the Highfather, except at meal time, when all Mischta look into the sky and offer a symbolic thanks to him, whom they call "the Grandfather."
1990, Scott Haring, Scott Bennie, John Terra, OtherlandsI do not have many powerful friends on earth, but rather they have gone forth, gone away from the joys of the world, sought for themselves the king of glory, they live now in heaven with the Highfather, dwell in glory.
2003, Patrick Murray-John, The poetics of 'knowing' in Anglo-Saxon visionsAs she led him into the house, she told him that the High Father, her adoptive great-grandfather, was equivalent to a Supreme Court Justice.
2005, Alfred D. Byrd, On the Wings of Dream
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishhēahfæder“patriarch”
- Middle Englishhehfader
- Englishhighfather
Perhaps from Middle English hehfader, heahfeder, from Old English hēahfæder (“patriarch”, literally “high-father”); or perhaps a direct revival of the Old English word. By surface analysis, high + father.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
highfather. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/highfather
“highfather.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/highfather. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “highfather,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/highfather.
Source: highfather on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.