Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

church father

/ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ fɑ.ðɚ/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.91 in modern English

Syllables: church -fa-ther
IPA: /ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ fɑ.ðɚ/

28

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

One of a number of male Christian writers from Antiquity whose doctrinal work is considered authoritative by the later church.

Etymology

Calque of Latin Pater Ecclēsiae.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ fɑ.ðɚ/
British English: /ˈt͡ʃɜːt͡ʃ fɑːðə(ɹ)/

Inflected Forms

Church Fathers (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

patristic patristics patrology

Synonyms

father of the church father

Questions

How do you pronounce church father?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ fɑ.ðɚ/.
What does church father mean?: One of a number of male Christian writers from Antiquity whose doctrinal work is considered authoritative by the later church.
Where does church father come from?: Calque of Latin Pater Ecclēsiae.

How to pronounce church father

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “church father”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈt͡ʃɝt͡ʃ fɑ.ðɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “church father”.
Repeat and practice — Say “church father” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.