Category:Father

Fa"ther, n. Etym: [OE. fader, AS. fæder; akin to OS. fadar, D. vader, OHG. fatar, G. vater, Icel. Fa Sw. & Dan. fader, OIr. athir, L. pater, Gr. pitr, perh. fr. Skr. pa protect. Papa, Paternal, Patriot, Potential, Pablum.]

1. One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent. A wise son maketh a glad father. Proverbs 10:1.

2. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or family; -- in the plural, fathers, ancestors. David slept with his fathers. 1 Kings 2:10. Abraham, who is the father of us all. Romans 4:16.

3. One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection. I was a father to the poor. Job 29:16. He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house. Genesis 14:8.

4. A respectful mode of address to an old man. And Joash the king og Israel came down unto him [Elisha],. . . and said, O my father, my father! 2 Kings 13:14.

5. A senator of ancient Rome.

6. A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a confessor (called also father confessor), or a priest; also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a legislative assembly, etc. Bless you, good father friar! Shak.

7. One of the chief esslesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; -- often spoken of collectively as the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers.

8. One who, or that which, gives origin; an originator; a producer, author, or contriver; the first to practice any art, profession, or occupation; a distinguished example or teacher. The father of all such as handle the harp and organ. Genesis 4:12. Might be the father, Harry, to that thought. Shak. The father of good news. Shak.

9. The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first person in the Trinity. Our Father, which art in heaven. Matthew 6:9. Now had the almighty Father from above. . . Bent down his eye. Milton. Adoptive father, one who adopts the child of another, treating it as his own. -- Apostolic father, Conscript fathers, etc. See under Apostolic, Conscript, etc. -- Father in God, a title given to bishops. -- Father of lies, the Devil. -- Father of the bar, the oldest practitioner at the bar. -- Fathers of the city, the aldermen. -- Father of the Faithful. (a) Abraham. Romans 4:1, Galatians 3:6-9. (b) Mohammed, or one of the sultans, his successors. -- Father of the house, the member of a legislative body who has had the longest continuous service. -- Most Reverend Father in God, a title given to archbishops and metropolitans, as to the archbishops of Canterbury and York. -- Natural father, the father of an illegitimate child. -- Putative father, one who is presumed to be the father of an illegitimate child; the supposed father. -- Spiritual father. .(a) A religious teacher or guide, esp. one instrumental in leading a soul to God. (b) (R. C. Ch.) A priest who hears confession in the sacrament of penance. -- The Holy Father (R. C. Ch.), the pope.

father Fa"ther, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fathered; p. pr. & vb. n. Fathering.]

1. To make one's self the father of; to beget. Cowards father cowards, and base things sire base. Shak.

2. To take as one's own child; to adopt; hence, to assume as one's own work; to acknowledge one's self author of or responsible for (a statement, policy, etc.). Men of wit Often fathered what he writ. Swift.

3. To provide with a father. [R.] Think you I am no stronger than my sex, Being so fathered and so husbanded Shak. To father on or upon, to ascribe to, or charge upon, as one's offspring or work; to put or lay upon as being responsible. "Nothing can be so uncouth or extravagant, which may not be fathered on some fetch of wit, or some caprice of humor." Barrow.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Father - A name applied (1.) to any ancestor (Deuteronomy 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matthew 3:9; Matthew 23:30, etc.); and (2.) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judges 17:10; Judges 18:19; 1 Samuel 10:12; 2 Kings 2:12; Matthew 23:9, etc.). (3.) The author or beginner of anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Genesis 4:20, Genesis 4:21; compare Job 38:28). Applied to God (Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 32:6; 2 Samuel 7:14; Psalms 89:27, Psalms 89:28, etc.). (1.) As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews (Jeremiah 31:9; Isaiah 63:16; Isaiah 64:8; John 8:41, etc.). (2.) Believers are called God's "sons" (John 1:12; Romans 8:16; Matthew 6:4, Matthew 6:8, Matthew 6:15, Matthew 6:18; Matthew 10:20, Matthew 10:29). They also call him "Father" (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:4)