father
     n 1: a male parent (also used as a term of address to your
          father); "his father was born in Atlanta" [syn: {male
          parent}, {begetter}] [ant: {mother}, {mother}]
     2: the founder of a family; "keep the faith of our forefathers"
        [syn: {forefather}, {sire}]
     3: `Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches
        (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox
        Catholic Church); `Padre' is frequently used in the
        military [syn: {Padre}]
     4: (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period
        from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established
        and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman
        Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became
        Doctor of the Church; the best known Lation Church Fathers
        are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome;
        those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil,
        Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom [syn: {Church
        Father}, {Father of the Church}]
     5: a person who holds an important or distinguished position in
        some organization; "the tennis fathers ruled in her
        favor"; "the city fathers endorsed the proposal"
     6: God when considered as the first person in the Trinity;
        "hear our prayers, Heavenly Father" [syn: {Father-God}, {Fatherhood}]
     7: a person who founds or establishes some institution; "George
        Washington is the father of his country" [syn: {founder},
        {beginner}, {founding father}]
     8: the head of an organized crime family [syn: {don}]
     v : make children; "Abraham begot Isaac"; "Men often father
         children but don't recognize them" [syn: {beget}, {get},
         {engender}, {mother}, {sire}, {generate}, {bring forth}]
Source: WordNet® 2.0