Meaning & use

father

noun·Everyday

A man in relation to his child or children; a male parent.

See it in a sentence

Her father taught her how to ride a bicycle in the park.

He became a father for the first time last spring.

A note on using this word

Father can also refer figuratively to a founder or originator, as in the father of modern computing.

Words with a similar meaning

dadpapa

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Another way to use it

2. verb

To become the male parent of a child.

He fathered three children before moving abroad for work.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “father”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.