| 释义 |
fa·ther
I. \ˈfäthə(r), ˈfȧthə(r\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English fader, from Old English fæder; akin to Old High German fater father, Old Norse fathir, Gothic fadar, Latin pater, Greek patēr, Sanskrit pitṛ
1.
a. : a man who has begotten a child : a male parent : sire
b. capitalized
(1) : god, deity II 1b
< our Father who art in heaven — Mt 6:9 (Revised Standard Version) >
(2) : the first person of the Trinity
< Father, Son, and Holy Ghost >
2. : a male ancestor more remote than a parent : forefather, ancestor
3. : one related to another in a way paralleling or suggesting the relationship of father to child: as
a. : one to whom a filial affection and respect are usually due : adoptive father : father-in-law, stepfather : a male relative who assumes the rights and obligations as well as the title of a father
b. : confessor 3
c. : one who is the marked and usually revered guide or most notable influence in another's spiritual, intellectual, or artistic development; also : one who is in a position of authority as guide and benefactor
< he had become a father to the village — Keith Ellis >
d. : an old man — used as a respectful form of address
4. often capitalized : an early Christian writer accepted widely or generally as a trustworthy witness to or expositor of the early history or teachings of the church
5.
a. : one that originates or institutes : one that first constructs, designs, or frames
< the father of modern radio >
< father of science ficton — D.H.Menzel >
< the influence of Babylonian and Egyptian mathematics upon the fathers of Greek science, especially Pythagoras — Times Literary Supplement >
b. : one of the first American colonists : pilgrim father
c. : an early American statesman; especially : one of the creators of the Constitution
< the founding fathers >
d. : source, origin
< the wish is father to the thought >
< such an attitude of mind may easily become the father of criticism — V.L.Parrington >
< the doctrine that strife is the father of all things — M.R.Cohen >
e. : prototype
< a totem board at least fifteen feet high … the father of all totem boards — Daisy Bates >
6. : any of various ecclesiastics — used in direct address and as a title prefixed to the name (as of a priest in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Eastern Orthodox churches, and sometimes a deacon or a superior of a monastic house)
7. : one of the leading men of a country, city, or council — usually used in plural
< four proposals were before the city fathers — Wayne Robinson >
< surrounded by a council of the town fathers — Frank Yerby >
8. : the oldest or the presiding member of an associated group (as a society, a profession, or a legislative assembly)
< the father of the chapel in a printing plant >
< the father of the bar >
II. transitive verb
(fathered ; fathered ; fathering \-th(ə)riŋ\ ; fathers)
Etymology: Middle English faderen, from fader father — more at father I
1.
a. : to make oneself the father of : beget
< father three strapping sons >
< cowards father cowards — Shakespeare >
b. : to make oneself the father or author of by adoption or acknowledgment
< professed himself willing to have fathered it — Richard Garnett †1906 >
c. : to be the founder, creator, or author of : originate
< though he was no great poet he fathered a school of notable poets >
< fathered a plan for improving the city's schools >
d. : to be at the center, base, or source of
< this moral fault which fathers democratic politics — T.V.Smith >
e. : to produce by educating or training
< one of the most promising doctors the school had ever fathered >
2.
a. : to fix the paternity or origin of
< investigation fathered the child upon the lover >
< like caterpillars … not to be tracked or fathered — William Wordsworth >
b. : to place responsibility for the origin or cause of
< father a crime upon the first likely suspect >
3. archaic : to care for or look after as a father might
4. : impose, fasten, foist
< bent upon fathering a scurrilous significance upon a perfectly innocent remark >
5. now dialect England : to bear a strong resemblance to the father of (oneself) |