Webster's English Dictionary

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father

Cross references:
  1. church father         
 
1. fa.ther \'fa:th-*r\ n [ME fader, fr. OE fder; akin to OHG fater 
   father, L]pater, Gk pate-r 1a: a man who has begotten a child : SIRE  cap  
   1b1: GOD  1b2: the first person of the Trinity  2: FOREFATHER  3a: one 
   related to another in a way suggesting that of father to child  3b: an old 
   man - used as a respectful form of address  often cap  4: a Pre-scholastic 
   Christian writer accepted by the church as an authorita tive witness to its 
   teaching and practice 5a: ORIGINATOR  5b: SOURCE  5c: PROTOTYPE  6: a 
   priest of the regular clergy; broadly : PRIEST - used  esp. as a title 7: 
   one of the leading men (as of a city) - usu. used in pl. 
2. father \'fa:th-(*-)rin\ vt or fa.ther.ing 1a: BEGET  1b: to make oneself 
   the founder, producer, or author of  1c: to accept responsibility for  2: 
   to fix the paternity or origin of  3: FOIST