dad

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A father, a male parent.

   His dad was always there for him.

2. 2
   noun

   Used to address one's father; often capitalized.

   Happy Father's Day, dad!

3. 3
   name

   One’s father.

   Dad told me to go out and mow the lawn.

4. 4
   name

   Initialism of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf (early title of Dragon Age: The Veilguard).

   Currently replaying in preparation for DAD, and the Josiemance is still as lovely as I remember.

5. 5
   noun

   an informal term for a father

6. 6
   noun

   Used to address an older adult male.

7. 7
   verb

   To be a father to; to parent.

8. 8
   verb

   To act like a dad.

Etymology

From Early Modern English dadd, dadde (circa 1500), undoubtedly older, from unrecorded Middle English *dadde, of uncertain ultimate origin. Compare West Frisian deite (“dad, daddy”), Swabian Dede (“Godfather”). * Perhaps of Celtic origin, compare Welsh and Breton tad (from Proto-Brythonic *tad), Old Irish data; and possibly related to Russian дя́дя (djádja, “uncle”) and/or Russian де́душка (déduška, “grandfather”), all imitative. In Welsh, when subject to soft mutation (which occurs in vocative contexts, among others), tad becomes dad. * Perhaps imitative of a child's first uttered syllables d…