daddyn.
/ˈdadi/, U.S. /ˈdædi/ colloquial.
1.
a. One's father; a father.Daddy occurs most commonly in children's language as an equivalent to dad n.1 1a; use by adults is sometimes indicative of a particular social or regional background. It is chiefly used as a form of address, or preceded by a possessive (as ‘my daddy’); it is also used without possessive (e.g., in quots. 1920 and 2014) in the manner of a proper name.baby-daddy, lucky-daddy: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > father > [noun]
fatherOE
sirec1250
authora1398
flesh-fathera1400
genitor1447
daddy1523
dad1533
bab1598
patera1600
dada1672
relieving officer1677
papa1681
pappy1722
baba1771
pa1773
governor1783
paw1826
fatherkin1839
pop1840
bap1842
pap1844
da1851
baba1862
puppa1885
pops1893
poppa1897
pot and pan1900
papasana1904
daddy-o1913
bapu1930
baby-father1932
abba1955
birth father1977
1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell sig. Dii/2 By saynt mary my lady your mammy and your dady Brought forth a godely babi.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Dadde or daddy, as infantes cal their fathers.
1592 (?a1425) Chester Plays (BL Add.) (1843) I. 38 As my daddye hath taughte yt me, I will fulfill his lore.
1653 Trap-Pannnians 4 Dyldoes ne'r will make her spouse a daddy.
1673 R. Leigh Transproser Rehears'd 8 Every Nurse can readily point to Daddy's Eyes.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 223 I'll be Dady's Bairn and Minies Bairn.
1790 ‘P. Pindar’ Rowland for Oliver 14 So [I] ask'd my daddy's leave to study Printing.
1846 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Simon Suggs ii. 20 What do boys have daddies for, any how?
1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I Am II. xii. 141 She..could not believe that there was a fault in daddy.
1920 R. Macaulay Potterism iii. i. 104 You mustn't ring off yet, indeed you mustn't. Hold on while I tell daddy.
1962 J. Braine Life at Top xiii. 173 I want Sugar Puffs, Daddy, I do.
2005 B. Keating & S. Keating Blood Sisters (2006) xi. 197 I have something to tell you. I've fallen in love, Daddy.
2014 People's Friend 29 Mar. 55/2 They all stumbled in semi-darkness on Mother's Day morning, into Mummy and Daddy's room.
b. A person or institution irreverently likened to a father, esp. in being old-fashioned, excessively paternalistic, or controlling. Frequently in old daddy.
ΚΠ
1647 Mercurius Melancholicus 11–19 Dec. 94 Their Daddyes will perhaps a twelve-moneth hence send down their disjoyned fighting Creatures a moneths pay; and so farewell and be hang'd.
1682 J. Phillips Conf. Observator & Heraclitus 12 He opposes the Priviledges of his Enthusiastick Parliament, to the Royalties of Holy Daddy.
1749 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 12 Dec. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1396 All day long afraid of old daddy in England.
1831 J. Knowles Life & Writings H. Fuseli I. xiii. 364 [Quoting Fuseli] Two of the cleverest artists in their way, I believe, in Europe, but in every thing else, two old daddies.
1892 Spectator 24 Dec. 927/2 In other respects, he is an Old Daddy!
1912 Rotarian Oct. 21/2 The solemn old daddies who used to make publicity could not get a hearing.
1961 Independent-Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.) 10 Dec. c2/1 I'll bet those old daddies who have headed the AAU and NCAA for a dozen decades spun their wheelchairs at a dizzy pace..when they caught the action.
c. In various occasional and slang uses: (a name for) a person performing a duty likened to that of a father, esp. a manager or supervisor.
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1851 J. Greenwood Night in Workhouse in R. Johnson Little Classics I. 59 Whereupon Daddy opened to us, and let a little of his gaslight stream into the dark where we stood.
1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 28 Daddy, the stage manager.—Theat.
1860 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) (Adds.) Daddy, the person who gives away the bride at weddings.
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 138 At mock raffles, lotteries, &c., the Daddy is an accomplice, most commonly the getter up of the swindle, and in all cases the person that has been previously selected to win the prize.
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 138 Daddy, the old man in charge—generally an aged pauper—at casual wards.
1886 Graphic 10 Apr. 399/2 The manager himself is sometimes known as the ‘gorger’, and ‘daddy’ is the stage-manager.
1920 Internat. Stereotypers & Electrotypers Union Jrnl. Nov. 19/1 Then there is the ‘daddy of the chapel’. He exercises a censorship over everything that goes into the newspapers.
2009 C. Power Breaking Free viii. 39 My friend, at that time, was known as the Daddy, a term given to a prisoner who ruled the prison.
2.
a. A person other than one's father, often (though not necessarily) one older than oneself. Usually as a title or form of address. Cf. dad n.1 1b.Common in the early- and mid-20th cent. in the language of jazz musicians and associated circles as a general form of address, but now considered dated when used in this way; cf. daddy-o n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun] > as a form of address
lordOE
wye1340
gentleman1534
old fellow1567
gaff1573
godhood1586
gaffer1590
dad1605
daddy1681
hearty1735
cock-of-wax1790
governor1819
bub1839
smarty1847
doc1870
guy1876
Sunny Jim1903
big guy1910
chief1927
daddy-o1944
pops1944
tosh1954
Sonny Jim1960
ese1961
majita1963
G1990
mi'jito1990
1681 T. Otway Souldiers Fortune i. i. 8 We might be dead for all you, you naughty Dady, you.
1759 J. White tr. Aristophanes Clouds iii. ii. 114 How, how; good Daddy, tell me, how.
1774 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. 9 July in Jrnl. & Lett. (1900) 202 I saw her at Daddy Gumby's.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. viii. 226 I tho't I see'd somethin' a crawlin' out o' the touch-hole, daddy.
1837 Southern Lit. Messenger Dec. 744/1 These [domestics] too were greeted always by the kind appellatives of ‘daddy and mammy’—and ‘uncle and aunt’;—and I have even now living, a jet black ‘daddy’ and two ‘uncles’.
1866 E. C. Downs Four Years Scout & Spy 91 Well, daddy, you don't look like a man with a clear conscience.
1948 New Yorker 3 July 28 The bebop people have a language of their own. They call each other Pops, Daddy, and Dick.
1957 J. Kerouac On the Road i. vii. 44 A waitress..slightly hung-up on a few sexual difficulties which..I think you can manage, you fine gone daddy you.
1960 Time & Tide 24 Dec. 1599/1 He calls his colleagues the detectives, ‘daddy’, his clothes he refers to as ‘threads’.
1981 J. Ellroy Brown's Requiem (1984) vi. 72 ‘Shake it, daddy, what else do you want to know?’ he said. Besides suffering from terminal cancer, he was suffering from terminal hipsterism.
1986 D. Tate Bravo Burning 43 You ain' gotta sacrifice your black nuts for nunna them white daddies. You don't gotta go back to no Vietnam.
b. U.S. (in early use chiefly in African-American usage). A woman's male lover; a husband. Frequently as a form of address. Cf. papa n.2 2a, sugar daddy n. at sugar n. Compounds 3a.
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the mind > emotion > love > a lover > [noun] > male lover
servantc1405
specialc1425
servitorc1450
love-lad1586
young man1589
inamorato1592
swainc1592
gentleman friend1667
enamorado1677
spark1707
beau?1720
Johnny1726
man friend1736
feller1842
novio1843
soupirant1849
fella1874
man1874
fellow1878
square-pusher1890
stud1895
papa1896
lover mana1905
boyfriend1906
daddy1912
lover-boy1925
sheikh1925
sweetback1929
sweet man1942
older man1951
boyf1990
1912 L. W. Gilbert (sheet music) (title) Here comes my daddy now.
1919 P. Bradford I'm Crazy 'bout your Lovin' (sheet music) 2 I've got a lovin daddy Who cert'nly can love sweet.
1926 L. Hughes Weary Blues 27 Kiss me..daddy.
1970 H. Waugh Finish me Off (1971) 133 He wasn't pimping for her... He's my daddy and he plays it for five other girls.
1999 J. Ridley Everybody smokes in Hell 129 I'm touching myself, Daddy. Are you touching yourself?
3.
a. The best (or worst), largest, or oldest instance of something; the most important or influential thing within a particular field. Esp. in daddy of them all.
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1843 H. C. Lewis Odd Leaves Louisiana ‘Swamp Doctor’ 136 A huge bull dog sprang at us, placing us in rather a dilemma; it was the dog of a daddy on one hand, and the daddy of a dog on the other.
1885 Bulletin (Sydney) 25 July 14/1 Golding was the builder of the 20ft. half-decker, Nereus, the ‘daddy’ of her class.
1887 Union Pacific Employes' Mag. Mar. 63/1 The G.A.R. gives a grand ball..which will be a grand affair. But the daddy of them all will be the Third Annual Ball given by the Wasatch Assembly.
1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career xxii. 194 I never felt such a daddy of a thirst on me before.
1930 Pop. Mech. Aug. 34 (advt.) Answer the call of Electricity—the ‘daddy’ of them all—the giant of American industry.
1962 Woman 31 Mar. 18/3 He had had his share of knockbacks. Including a daddy of a one from Belle herself.
1969 W. Garner Us or Them War iv. 42 You graduate from taking little chances to taking big ones. This one was the daddy of 'em all.
2005 Time Out 7 Dec. 184/3 Who's the daddy? Well, this box set apparently.
2006 Driven Sept. 28/2 Although the speculated GT2 will no doubt be the fastest and scariest, the Turbo is still the daddy.
2010 G. W. Paltridge Climate Caper iv. 80 The climate-change issue, the daddy of all environmental problems.
b. A senior or pre-eminent person in a group; the most influential or important person in a particular sphere; a doyen. Usually with of.Big Daddy, mack daddy: see the first element.
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the world > people > person > senior person > [noun]
elderc1175
seniorc1380
elder mana1387
older1484
ancient1548
dad?1576
doyen1670
dean1687
daddy1877
key man1895
doyenne1905
1877 Brotherhood Mag. (Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen) July 231/1 There is old Hugh Reddie, He's the daddy of the crowd.
1898 Minutes Seventh Ann. Meeting United Confederate Veterans 70 While Gen. Moorman is still a young looking man, I want you to know that he is the Daddy of all these Camps.
1920 Oil Miller Dec. 18/1 Walsh, you know is the ‘Daddy’ of organized oil mill superintendents—he saw the need of educating superintendents to a higher standard of efficiency.
1925 New Yorker 11 July 11 The Daddy of Sunday Painters.
1934 O. Strange Sudden vi. 52 He's the daddy o' the outfit.
1959 Times 26 Nov. 16/1 At full-back Uren, who must have been the daddy of the entire party, started falteringly.
2000 Front Oct. 109/1 At his peak he was the daddy: he could wear a bin-liner and you'd think that cool had landed.
2014 P. Earle Bubble Wrap Boy viii. 40 I'd found footage of this guy, Tony Hawk, who they said was the daddy of all skaters, and he did things that defied logic or gravity.
4. Prison slang. A man who takes an active or dominant role in a homosexual relationship, esp. one who provides physical protection to a (typically younger) more vulnerable inmate.
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1933 V. F. Nelson Prison Days & Nights vi. 150 The active participants [in homosexual intercourse]..who are known as ‘wolves’, ‘jockers’, ‘daddies’, etc., are generally looked upon with comparative respect.
1967 M. Braly On the Yard xxii. 333 It must have been your night to play daddy. But the disciplinary committee, they don't make fine distinctions.
1988 C. G. Karhu Tennessee Prison Talk in Amer. Speech 63 133 Boy, passive homosexual partner, usually young and initially unwilling... Daddy, protector of a boy.
2003 M. Kern Face i. 2 He came to my cell and said that by morning I was going to have to choose a daddy, or it would be him.
5. Among gay men: a masculine older man; spec. one who is romantically or sexually interested in younger partners, sometimes with the implication that such a man will play a more (sexually) active or dominant role (cf. sense 4).With quot. 1949, cf. sense 2b.
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1949 ‘Swasarnt Nerf’ in H. Hagius Gay Guides for 1949 (2010) 58 The following words..are frequently used..in a sense..equivalent to, their meaning in straight English (slang)... Bitch..daddy..faggot.]
1975 Advocate 2 July (Pullout section) 16/1 (advt.) Little guy, oral slave,..needs muscular daddy to serve and obey.
1983 Update (San Diego, Calif.) 9 Feb. 26/5 (advt.) Disobedient boy-ass 18-25 punished by stocky, masculine, hairy, bearded daddy, 40.
1989 Advocate 11 Apr. 94/2 (advt.) Hot bearded daddy. Has thick shaved meat & big heavy duty balls.
2000 R. Kampf Bear Handbk. ii. 35 Sometimes the cub is searching for his daddy or sometimes he is looking for a playmate.
2012 N. Clarkson in M. B. Sycamore Why are Faggots so Afraid of Faggots? 61 I already knew he was forty-two. I had also already heard his ‘horror story’ of being hit on by some twink..who had called him a ‘really hot daddy’.
Compounds
Compounds with the genitive form daddy's.
daddy's boy n. a man or boy who is particularly attached to, or influenced by, his father, esp. one who enjoys activities regarded as typically masculine; cf. mama's boy n. at mama n.1 Compounds, which is more common.
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1936 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Northwestern 24 Nov. 12/4 Dad should play games with him by day, do things with him, make things with him, helping make him a daddy's boy.
1942 Washington Post 19 Jan. 8/1 Colin was a daddy's boy... Even when he was just a little fellow, he always followed me about when I was working.
2015 K. Mussat in S. T. Valentine Questions of Soul xxxix. 175 He was the original ‘burly man’ who loved all things outdoors... He found his identity in being a skillful hunter and a daddy's boy.
daddy's girl n. a girl or woman who is particularly attached to, or influenced by, her father, esp. one regarded as pampered or overindulged; cf. mama's boy n. at mama n.1 Compounds, mummy's boy n. at mummy n.2 Compounds.
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1920 B. W. Sinclair Poor Man's Rock xvi. 212 If there is going to be a break-up of the family I shall stay with you. I'm a daddy's girl.
1933 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 1 May 8/1 In many ways she is a real ‘daddy's girl’, doing so many things that he did.
1959 Washington Post 4 Mar. d6/2 He accuses me of being a daddy's girl, but I haven't seen Dad in four years.
2007 L. Lippman What Dead Know xix. 164 He would have diagnosed her a rich bitch, or a daddy's girl at the very least, someone used to getting her way.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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