Father
A father (or dad) is defined as a male parent or Individual progenitor of human offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to a father and comparatively to "maternal" for a mother. The verb "to father" means to procreate or to sire a child from which also derives the gerund "fathering". Fathers determine the gender of their child through a sperm cell which either contains an X chromosome (female), or Y chromosome (male).
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Famous quotes containing the word father:
“Reason is natural revelation, whereby the eternal father of light, and fountain of all knowledge, communicates to mankind that portion of truth which he has laid within the reach of their natural facilities: Revelation is natural reason enlarged by a new set of discoveries communicated by God immediately, which reason vouches the truth of, by the testimony and proofs it gives, that they come from God.”
—John Locke (1632–1704)
“Men sooner forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.”
—Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)
“Any balance we achieve between adult and parental identities, between children’s and our own needs, works only for a time—because, as one father says, “It’s a new ball game just about every week.” So we are always in the process of learning to be parents.”
—Joan Sheingold Ditzion, Dennie, and Palmer Wolf. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 2 (1978)