# father

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfɑː.ðə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #549

## Definitions
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.).
2. A male who has sired a baby; this person in relation to his child or children.
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.
5. A term of respectful address for a priest.
6. A person who plays the role of a father in some way.
7. A pioneering figure in a particular field.
8. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.
9. Something inanimate that begets.
10. A member of a church council.
11. The archived older version of a file that immediately precedes the current version, and was itself derived from the grandfather.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-?
Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr
Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr
Proto-Germanic *fadēr
Proto-West Germanic *fader
Old English fæder
Middle English fader
English father
Inherited from Middle English fader. Doublet of ayr, faeder, athair, padre, pater, and père.

## Easily confused with
- **fisher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-fisher)
- **fathom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-fathom)
- **fatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-fatter)
- **fitter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-fitter)
- **further** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-further)
- **fathers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-fathers)
- **feather** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-feather)
- **flatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-flatter)
- **fatherly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/father-vs-fatherly)
- **fate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fate-vs-father)
- **Faber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/faber-vs-father)
- **fated** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fated-vs-father)
- **Fates** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fates-vs-father)
- **faker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/faker-vs-father)
- **Fahey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fahey-vs-father)
- **fader** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fader-vs-father)
- **faster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/faster-vs-father)
- **farmer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/farmer-vs-father)
- **fairer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fairer-vs-father)
- **falter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/falter-vs-father)

## Common misspellings (9)
`afther`, `fahter`, `fatehr`, `fatherr`, `fathher`, `fathre`, `fatther`, `ffather`, `ftaher`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/father