papa

C2+ Topic:Communication

US /ˈpɑpə/ UK /pəˈpɑː/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an affectionate or childish term for one's father

The little boy ran to greet his papa at the door.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an affectionate or childish... father dad daddy pa pop

Opposites

mama mother

Word family

Related forms pater paternal

Simplified etymology

Papa, recorded in English from the late 17th century, arose from the repeated syllables produced in infant babbling, as did related family words in many languages. It is connected with Greek pappas, “father,” whose ecclesiastical variant papas, “bishop” or “patriarch,” ultimately also gave English pope.

Etymology

From French papa, from Latin papa, a nursery word of imitative origin like Greek pappa, found across many languages as an instinctive infant utterance for 'father'.

papa Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication

External links

# papa

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɑpə/
**IPA (UK):** /pəˈpɑː/

## Meanings
1. an affectionate or childish term for one's father

## Examples
- The little boy ran to greet his papa at the door.

## Synonyms
- father
- dad
- daddy
- pa
- pop

## Antonyms
- mama
- mother

## Related Forms
- pater
- paternal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: papa

## Etymology
From French papa, from Latin papa, a nursery word of imitative origin like Greek pappa, found across many languages as an instinctive infant utterance for 'father'.

## AI Etymology
Papa is from French papa, from Latin papa, a nursery word of imitative origin like Greek pappa, found across many languages as an instinctive infant utterance for 'father'. Important recorded forms include papa (Latin). The modern sense follows that older lexical line closely. In current use it covers an affectionate or childish term for one's father. The wider family includes related words such as pater and paternal.

## Topics
- Communication

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