dad

A lump or piece.

Noun informal

  1. A father, a male parent.
    • His dad was always there for him.
    • A lot of the power for dads comes in the form of modeling. As much as dads can teach their sons directly and guide them in the world, they also provide an example of who their children can aim to be as they grow up,...

    Synonyms: ayr ba baba da dad dada daddio daddy father Father fatherling old man pa pap papa papa bear papaw pappaw pappy Pappy pater patriarch paw pawpaw

  2. Used to address one's father; often capitalized.
    • Happy Father's Day, dad!

    Synonyms: Dad dada daddy pa Pa papa pop Pop pappa pater paw

  3. Used to address an older adult male.

    Synonyms: daddio pop pops

Origin

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 da, da. * Possibly from a metathetic variation of a hypothetical Old English *ætta, *atta (“father”), from Proto-West Germanic *attō, from Proto-Germanic *attô ("father, forefather"; whence also North Frisian ate, aatj, taatje, tääte (“father; dad”), Middle High German tate (“father, dad”) (whence...

Forms

dads dadde

Related

da dada daddio daddy grandpappy mum mom sire

Derived

ballet dad bank of mum and dad biodad bonus dad dad-blamed dad bod dadbod dad burn dad-burned dadchelor party dadcore dad dancer dad dancing dad-dancing daddish dadhood dadication dad joke dadless dadlike dadly dadness dadpreneur dadrock

Noun Entry 2

  1. A lump or piece.
  2. A blow; act of striking something.

Origin

From dade (“to strike heavily”), dade (“a heavy blow or thud”). Probably onomatopoeic.

Forms

dads dod dodge dadge

Noun alt of, alternative

  1. Alternative form of daad (“Arabic letter ض”).

Forms

dads

Verb Entry 4

  1. To be a father to; to parent.
  2. To act like a dad.

Forms

dads dadding dadded dadde

Verb Entry 5

  1. To throw against something; to dash.

Forms

dads dadding dadded dod dodge dadge