Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
FATHER
I. noun
Etymology: Middle English fader, from Old English fæder; akin to Old High German fater father, Latin pater, Greek patēr Date: before 12th century
1. a man who has begotten a child, b. capitalized god 1, the first person of the Trinity, forefather ,
3. one related to another in a way suggesting that of father to child, an old man, a pre-Scholastic Christian writer accepted by the church as an authoritative witness to its teaching and practice,
5. one that originates or institutes , source , prototype , a priest of the regular clergy, one of the leading men (as of a city), fatherhood noun fatherless adjective fatherlike adjective or adverb
II. verb (fathered; fathering)
Date: 15th century
transitive verb
1. beget , to be the founder, producer, or author of , to accept responsibility for,
2. to fix the paternity or origin of, to place responsibility for the origin or cause of , foist , impose , intransitive verb to care for or look after someone as a father might