Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative spelling of
paterfamilias .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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". Confer the English word family.
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