dad

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dæd/^[1]

Etymology

It is probably from children's speech,^[2][3][4] perhaps imitating a young child's first syllables da, da.^[5][6] Such words are nearly universal and probably prehistoric:^[2] compare Welsh tad, Irish daid, Lithuanian tėtė, Czech and Russian táta, Latin tata, Greek tata and Sanskrit tatá-, all words for “father” of childish origin.^[2][7][8][4] Old High German had a similar word, tōdo.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A familiar word for father: perhaps before 1500 in the OED,^[9] about 1500 in Etymonline,^[2] and the 15th century in Merriam-Webster;^[4] Barnhart has daddy before 1529 and dad in 1553.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In early use dad ranked with mam as a word of the common people, while papa and mamma were the polite forms.^[9] Dad as a form of address to a man who is not one's father, often not elderly, is from 1959.^[9][6] Daddy is from the 16th century,^[8][3] and daddy-longlegs from before 1814.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1500 – father.^[9]
• before 1529 – daddy.^[3]
• 1553 – dad.^[3]
• 1959 – a form of address to another man.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (informal) A father.
2. (informal) A form of address to an older man.

Word family

• granddad
• deadbeat dad

Related words

• dada
• daddy
• papa
• father

Usage notes

Two other words are spelled dad: a disguised form of God in oaths, from 1678 and now chiefly dialect or American,^[9][6] and a Scots and northern verb and noun meaning “to knock, beat” and “a blow; a lump”.^[6][9][10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)