pater familias

From around 1425 to 1475 from late Middle English which itself came from the Latin term with the same meaning. From the Latin term pater ("father") + familiās, an archaic genitive of familia ("family", "household"). Literally meaning "father of the family" or "father of the household". Compare the English word family.

pater familias

1. Alternative spelling of paterfamilias

• pater familiae
• paterfamilias
• paterfamiliae

From pater (“father”) + familiās, an archaic genitive of familia (“family", "household”). Literally meaning "father of the family" or "father of the household".

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpa.ter faˈmi.li.aːs/, [ˈpät̪ɛr fäˈmɪlʲiäːs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpa.ter faˈmi.li.as/, [ˈpäːt̪er fäˈmiːliäs]

pater familiās m (genitive patris familiās, feminine māter familiās); third declension

1. head of household

Third-declension noun with an indeclinable portion.

• → French: père de famille (calque)
• → Italian: padre di famiglia (calque)
• → Sicilian: patri di famigghia (calque)
• → Spanish: padre de familia (calque)

• “pater familias”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers