Dictionary

pater en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpeɪtə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈpeɪtɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-? Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr Proto-Italic *patēr Latin paterbor. English pater Borrowed from Latin pater (“father”). Doublet of ayr, faeder, father, padre, and père.

Meanings

1. (formal, humorous) Father.
   • Strangled by the wishes of pater / Hoping for the arms of mater / Get to me the sooner or later 1985, Mick Hucknall, Neil Moss, “Holding Back the Years”, in Picture Book, performed by Simply Red:
   • Burlington Bertie's the latest young jay He rents a swell flat somewhere Kensington way He spends the good oof that his pater has made Along with the Brandy and Soda Brigade. 1900, Harry B. Norris, “Burlington Bertie”:
   • The pater is the kindest-hearted old soul, but there are times when he hates me. I'm a thing which every decent middle-class person hates, a problem, like the unemployed, you know, or the ex-soldier. We are always in such a hurry to forget uncomfortable things, and I'm an uncomfortable thing. Poor old dad; he gets me at breakfast; he gets me in the morning paper. 1923, Warwick Deeping, The Secret Sanctuary, e-artnow, published 2021:

Forms

Coordinates

mater

Descendants

pater

Relateds

pater cove · patrimony · paternal · patrilineal · patrilocality · patriarch · patripotestal · mater · patricide · patrifocality · padre · patrilinear · patriline · patrician · pater familias · patrilineage · paternity