fathers

fa-thers · noun, verb

imported

Definitions

noun, verb

  1. 1.

    Plural of father; male parents.

  2. 2.

    Third person singular present tense of father; to be the male parent of.

  3. 3.

    Founders or originators of something.

  4. 4.

    Priests or religious leaders (often capitalized as "Fathers").

Phrases & expressions

  • •
    founding fathers — The people who established an institution or nation
  • •
    Church Fathers — Early and influential Christian theologians
  • •
    like father, like son — Children often resemble their parents

Related words

Antonyms: mothers
See also: dads, father, parents
Synonyms: dads, papas, patriarchs

Etymology

From Old English fæder, from Proto-Germanic fader, from Proto-Indo-European ph2tḗr. See [[father]] for full etymology.