a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father);
"his father was born in Atlanta"
the founder of a family;
"keep the faith of our forefathers"
`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
(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 Latin Church Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom
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"
God when considered as the first person in the Trinity;
"hear our prayers, Heavenly Father"
a person who founds or establishes some institution;