【法】 养父

Father \Fa"ther\ (f[aum]"[th][~e]r), n. [OE. fader, AS.
f[ae]der; akin to OS. fadar, D. vader, OHG. fatar, G. vater,
Icel. fa[eth]ir Sw. & Dan. fader, OIr. athir, L. pater, Gr.
path`r, Skr. pitr, perh. fr. Skr. p[=a] protect. [root]75,
247. Cf. {Papa}, {Paternal}, {Patriot}, {Potential},
{Pablum}.]
1. One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a
generator; a male parent.

A wise son maketh a glad father. --Prov. x. 1.

2. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor;
especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or
family; -- in the plural, fathers, ancestors.

David slept with his fathers. --1 Kings ii.
10.

Abraham, who is the father of us all. --Rom. iv. 16.

3. One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance,
affetionate care, counsel, or protection.

I was a father to the poor. --Job xxix.
16.

He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all
his house. --Gen. xiv. 8.

4. A respectful mode of address to an old man.

And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him
[Elisha], . . . and said, O my father, my father!
--2 Kings
xiii. 14.

5. A senator of ancient Rome.

6. A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a
confessor (called also {father confessor}), or a priest;
also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a
legislative assembly, etc.

Bless you, good father friar ! --Shak.

7. One of the chief ecclesiastical authorities of the first
centuries after Christ; -- often spoken of collectively as
the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers.

8. One who, or that which, gives origin; an originator; a
producer, author, or contriver; the first to practice any
art, profession, or occupation; a distinguished example or
teacher.

The father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
--Gen. iv. 21.

Might be the father, Harry, to that thought. --Shak.

The father of good news. --Shak.

9. The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first
person in the Trinity.

Our Father, which art in heaven. --Matt. vi. 9.

Now had the almighty Father from above . . .
Bent down his eye. --Milton.

{Adoptive father}, one who adopts the child of another,
treating it as his own.

{Apostolic father}, {Conscript fathers, etc.} See under
{Apostolic}, {Conscript}, etc.

{Father in God}, a title given to bishops.

{Father of lies}, the Devil.

{Father of the bar}, the oldest practitioner at the bar.

{Fathers of the city}, the aldermen.

{Father of the Faithful}.
(a) Abraham. --Rom. iv. --Gal. iii. 6-9.
(b) Mohammed, or one of the sultans, his successors.

{Father of the house}, the member of a legislative body who
has had the longest continuous service.

{Most Reverend Father in God}, a title given to archbishops
and metropolitans, as to the archbishops of Canterbury and
York.

{Natural father}, the father of an illegitimate child.

{Putative father}, one who is presumed to be the father of an
illegitimate child; the supposed father.

{Spiritual father}.
(a) A religious teacher or guide, esp. one instrumental in
leading a soul to God.
(b) (R. C. Ch.) A priest who hears confession in the
sacrament of penance.

{The Holy Father} (R. C. Ch.), the pope.