From PIE *ph2ter — one of the most securely reconstructed words, cognate with Latin 'pater' and Greek 'pater.'
A male parent; a man in relation to his child or children.
From Old English 'fæder,' from Proto-Germanic *fadēr, from PIE *ph₂tḗr. This is one of the most securely reconstructed PIE words, attested in nearly every branch of the family: Latin 'pater,' Greek 'patḗr,' Sanskrit 'pitár-,' Old Irish 'athir.' The word likely originated as a nursery word — a child's babbling sound 'pa' formalized with the agentive suffix *-tḗr, literally 'the pa-one.' Its universality across Indo-European branches makes