noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The state of being a father (biological father, stepfather, adoptive father, foster father; sometimes the biological father specifically). countable, uncountable
2. 2
   the status of a father wordnet
3. 3
   the status of a religious leader wordnet
4. 4
   the kinship relation between an offspring and the father wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

paternitypaternity;affiliationagnationalliance

Example

More examples

"Having never married, he experienced fatherhood vicariously through his nieces and nephews."

Etymology

From Middle English faderhode, fadirhode, fadirhede, equivalent to father + -hood.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.