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).
Read more about Father: Etymology, Relationship With Children, Determination of Parenthood, History of Fatherhood, Father–offspring Conflict, Categories, Non-human Fatherhood
Famous quotes containing the word father:
“If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again,—if you have paid your debts and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man, then you are ready for a walk.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It’s not that we have too much mother, but too little father. We can’t forgive our mothers for taking the place of our fathers until we are ready to see that the point of a man’s life is to be a father and a mentor, and we can’t do that because we don’t know how we would be a father or a mentor when we never had one.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“My father fight against you last time. We give you one good licking then and we do it again.”
—Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)