Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Father"

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)

Father
a name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11;
Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a
chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12;
2 Kings 2:12; Matt. 23:9, etc.). (3) The author or beginner of
anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Gen. 4:20,
21; comp. Job 38:28).

Applied to God (Ex. 4:22; Deut. 32:6; 2 Sam. 7:14; Ps. 89:27,
28, etc.). (1.) As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews
(Jer. 31:9; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; John 8:41, etc.).

(2.) Believers are called God's "sons" (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16;
Matt. 6:4, 8, 15, 18; 10:20, 29). They also call him "Father"
(Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:4)

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Father \Fa"ther\, n. [OE. fader, AS. f[ae]der; akin to OS.
fadar, D. vader, OHG. fatar, G. vater, Icel. Fa?ir Sw. & Dan.
fader, OIr. athir, L. pater, Gr. ?????, Skr. pitr, perh. fr.
Skr. p[=a] protect. ???,???. Cf. {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. --Prov. x. 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 ii.
10.

Abraham, who is the father of us all. --Rom. iv. 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 xxix.
16.

He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all
his house. --Gen. xiv. 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
xiii. 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.
--Gen. iv. 21.

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. --Matt. vi. 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. --Rom. iv. --Gal. iii. 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.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

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.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

father
n 1: a male parent (also used as a term of address to your
father); "his father was born in Atlanta" [syn: {male
parent}, {begetter}] [ant: {mother}, {mother}]
2: the founder of a family; "keep the faith of our forefathers"
[syn: {forefather}, {sire}]
3: `Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches
(especially Roman or Orthodox Catholic); `Padre' is
frequently used in the military [syn: {Father}, {Padre}]
4: an early writer accepted as an authority on the teachings
and practices of the Christian church [syn: {Church Father},
{Father}]
5: a person who holds an important or distinguished position in
some organization; "the tennis fathers ruled in her
favor"; "the city fathers endorsed the proposal"
6: God when considered as the first person in the Trinity;
"hear our prayers, Heavenly Father" [syn: {Father}, {Father-God}]
7: a person who founds or establishes some institution; "George
Washington is the father of his country" [syn: {founder},
{beginner}, {founding father}]
v : make children; "Abraham begot Isaac"; "Men often father
children but don't recognize them" [syn: {beget}, {get},
{engender}, {mother}, {sire}, {generate}, {bring forth}]


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