Etymologically
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dad

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Pronunciation

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

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)