French

Proper noun

Père m

1. (Christianity) Father, person of the Holy Trinity
2. (Christianity) Father, title for priests

English

Alternative forms

• pere

Noun

père ‎(plural pères)

1. A priest of the Roman Catholic Church, especially a French one. Also used as a title preceding the name of such a priest.
2. Sr. - Used after a proper name that is common to a father and his son to indicate that the father is being referred to rather than the son; junior, fils.

Usage notes

• Current usage of differentiating fathers and sons is borrowed from French; hence this term follows the name as it does in French grammar.

See also

• fils

Anagrams

• peer

French

Etymology

From Middle French pere, from Old French pedre, pedra, pere, from Latin pater, patrem, from Proto-Italic *patēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ/
• Rhymes: -ɛʁ
• (mostly obsolete) IPA^(key): /per(ə)/

Noun

père m ‎(plural pères)

1. father (parent)
2. father (clergyman)
3. Sr. (senior) (postnomial title used to indicate a father that shares the same name as the son)

Antonyms

• (senior): fils (Jr.)
• (parent): fils (son)
• (parent): mère (mother)

Derived terms

• grand-père
• beau-père

Norman

Etymology 1

From Old French pedre, pere, from Latin pater, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr.

Noun

père m ‎(plural pères)

1. (France) father

Alternative forms

• péthe (Jersey)
• pére (Guernsey)

Hypernyms

• parent

Coordinate terms

• (gender): mère

Etymology 2

From Latin pira, from the plural of Latin pirum, reanalyzed as feminine singular.

Noun

père f ‎(plural pères)

1. (Guernsey) pear

Alternative forms

• peire (continental Normandy)
• paithe (Jersey)