Link Centre Dictionary

godfather

god·fat·her

UK/ˈɡɒdfɑːðə/ US/ˈɡɑdfɑðɚ/ fairly common

noun

1.

any man who serves as a sponsor for a child at baptism

2.

someone having a relation analogous to that of a male sponsor to his godchild

Origin

From Middle English godfader, from Old English godfæder (“godfather”), equivalent to god- + father. Cognate with Old Saxon godfadar (“godfather”), Middle Dutch godvader (“godfather”), Danish gudfader, gudfar (“godfather”), Swedish gudfader, gudfar (“godfather”), Icelandic guðfaðir (“godfather”).

Phrases

  • fairy godfather
  • twelve godfathers

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.