Word.ws English Dictionary

paterfamilias

paterfamilias noun: a man who is the head of a household, family or tribe.

Noun

paterfamilias (plural paterfamiliases or patresfamilias)

  1. A man who is the head of a household, family or tribe.
    Synonyms:
    patriarch

paterfamilias meaning in Arabic

paterfamilias in Arabic

a man who is the head of a household
رَبّ اَلْعَائِلَة rabb al-ʕāʔila

Synonyms of paterfamilias

Forms of paterfamilias

pluralpaterfamiliases
pluralpatresfamilias
alternative formpater familias

Origin of paterfamilias

(c. 1425 to 1475) From late Middle English paterfamilias, from Latin pater familiās. From Latin pater (“father”) + familiās, archaic genitive of familia (“family; household”). Literally, "father of the family" or "father of the household".

Questions about paterfamilias

What does paterfamilias mean?
Paterfamilias means a man who is the head of a household, family or tribe.
What is paterfamilias in Arabic?
Paterfamilias in Arabic is رَبّ اَلْعَائِلَة (rabb al-ʕāʔila). See Paterfamilias meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is paterfamilias?
Paterfamilias is a noun.
What is the plural of paterfamilias?
The plural of paterfamilias is paterfamiliases.

Words near paterfamilias in the dictionary

  1. paterero
  2. patereroes
  3. patereros
  4. paterfamilial
  5. paterfamiliar
  6. paterfamilias
  7. paterfamiliases
  8. Paterian
  9. pateriform
  10. paternal
  11. paternal aunt

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: paterfamilias (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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