fatherly
/ˈfɑðɚli/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.60 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Characteristic of what is considered the ideal behaviour pertaining to fatherhood.
adj
Befitting of a father; protective, paternal.
adv
In a way pertaining to, befitting, or of a father.
Example Sentences
- "fatherly advice"
- "Exhorting him fatherlie to giue ouer that course."
- "[…]; tho’ God hath for a while Fatherly Chaſtiſed them by thoſe Rods which he hath afterwards conſumed."
- "This child is not mine as the first was, / I cannot sing it to rest, / I cannot lift it up fatherly / And bliss it upon my breast;"
- "Indeed we live beneath the sky, . . / That great smooth Hand of God, stretched out / On all His children fatherly, / To bless them from the fear and doubt, / Which would be, if, from this low place, / All opened straight up to His face / Into the grand eternity."
- "He looked fatherly at me."
Etymology
From Middle English faderly, from Old English fæderlīċ (“fatherly, paternal”), from Proto-West Germanic *faderlīk, from Proto-Germanic *fadurlīkaz (“fatherly, paternal”), equivalent to father + -ly. Cognate with West Frisian faderlik (“fatherly”), Dutch vaderlijk (“fatherly”), German väterlich (“fatherly”), Danish faderlig (“fatherly”), Swedish faderlig (“fatherly”), Icelandic föðurlegur (“fatherly”) . Doublet of fatherlike.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɑðɚli/
- British English: /ˈfɑːðəli/
Inflected Forms
more fatherly (comparative)
most fatherly (superlative)