Definition of "father" in 英语

noun

1. A male parent, especially of a human; a male who parents a child (which he has sired, adopted, fostered, taken as his own, etc.).

   • My father was a strong influence on me.

2. A male who has sired a baby; this person in relation to his child or children.

   • My friend Tony just became a father.

3. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor.

4. A term of respectful address for an elderly man.

   • Come, father; you can sit here.

5. A term of respectful address for a priest.

6. A person who plays the role of a father in some way.

   • My brother was a father to me after my parents got divorced.
   • The child is father to the man.

7. A pioneering figure in a particular field.

   • Albert Einstein is the father of modern physics.

8. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.

9. Something inanimate that begets.

10. (Christianity) A member of a church council.

11. (computing) The archived older version of a file that immediately precedes the current version, and was itself derived from the grandfather.

verb

1. To be a father to; to sire.

2. (figuratively) To give rise to.

3. To act as a father; to support and nurture.

4. To provide with a father.

5. To adopt as one's own.