fatherly
/ˈfɑːðəli/US/ˈfɑðɚli/
fatherly adjective: characteristic of what is considered the ideal behaviour pertaining to fatherhood.
Adjective
fatherly (comparative more fatherly, superlative most fatherly)
- Characteristic of what is considered the ideal behaviour pertaining to fatherhood.
- fatherly advice
- Befitting of a father; protective, paternal.
Adverb
fatherly (comparative more fatherly, superlative most fatherly)
- In a way pertaining to, befitting, or of a father.
- Exhorting him fatherlie to giue ouer that course.1589, The Return of Pasquill
- […]; tho’ God hath for a while Fatherly Chaſtiſed them by thoſe Rods which he hath afterwards conſumed.a. 1723, Increase Mather, “A Vindication of New-England”, in The Andros Tracts: […], New York, N.Y.: Burt Franklin, published 1869, page 27 (page 9 of chapter)
fatherly meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
fatherly in Hindi
- characteristic of what is considered the ideal behaviour pertaining to fatherhood
- पैतृक paitŕk
- characteristic of fathers, paternal
- पैतृक paitŕk
fatherly in Tamil
- தந்தையொத்த, தந்தைக்குரிய
fatherly in Urdu
- پدرانہ
fatherly in Malayalam
- അച്ഛനുചേർന്ന, അച്ഛനൊത്ത വാത്സല്യമുള്ള, പിതാവിനെപ്പോലായ, പിതൃനിർവ്വിശേഷം
More languagesFewer languages
- fatherly in Kannada
- ತಂದೆಯಂತಹ, ಮುಚ್ಚಟೆಯ, ಅಕ್ಕರೆಯ
- fatherly in Sanskrit
- तात्य tātyá
- fatherly in Arabic
- أَبَوِيّ ʔabawiyy
- fatherly in Persian
- پدرانه pedarâne
Examples of fatherly in a sentence
- 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;1848, James Russell Lowell, “The Changeling”, in Poems, second series, Cambridge: George Nichols; Boston: B. B. Mussey and Company, page...
- When she fell forward a little, as if she were half fainting with the pleasure, he held her, fatherly, in his arms until she recovered.1988, Phyllis Ann Karr, “Two Bits of Embroidery”, in Parke Godwin, editor, Invitation to Camelot: An Arthurian Anthology of Short Stories...
Forms of fatherly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more fatherly |
| superlative | most fatherly |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more fatherly |
| superlative | most fatherly |
Origin of fatherly
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.
From Middle English faderly, fadirly, from Old English fæderlīċe (“in a fatherly way, as a father”), equivalent to father + -ly.
Words formed from fatherly
Questions about fatherly
- What does fatherly mean?
- Fatherly means characteristic of what is considered the ideal behaviour pertaining to fatherhood.
- What is fatherly in Hindi?
- Fatherly in Hindi is पैतृक (paitŕk). See Fatherly meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use fatherly in a sentence?
- 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;
- What part of speech is fatherly?
- Fatherly can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce fatherly?
- Fatherly is pronounced /ˈfɑːðəli/ (UK).
Words near fatherly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fatherly (page history and authors); fatherly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fatherly (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fatherly (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fatherly (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); तात्य (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fatherly.wav.
Cite this entry: “fatherly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fatherly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.