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Added 7 October 2026

dad

/dæd/ symbol

In Latin: tata Wiktionary

symbol Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about dad at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

ISO 639-3 language code for Marik.

noun

A father, a male parent.
His dad was always there for him.
Used to address one's father; often capitalized.
Happy Father's Day, dad!
Used to address an older adult male.

verb

To be a father to; to parent.
To act like a dad.

noun

A lump or piece.
A blow; act of striking something.

Origin

From Early Modern English dadd, dadde (circa 1500), undoubtedly older, from unrecorded Middle English *dadde, of uncertain ultimate origin. Compare West Frisian deite (“dad, daddy”), Swabian Dede (“Godfather”). * Perhaps of Celtic origin, compare Welsh and Breton tad (from Proto-Brythonic *tad), Old Irish data; and possibly related to Russian дя́дя (djádja, “uncle”) and/or Russian де́душка (déduška, “grandfather”), all imitative. In Welsh, when subject to soft mutation (which occurs in vocative contexts, among others), tad becomes dad. * Perhaps imitative of a child's first uttered syllables da, da.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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