papa
Pronunciation
- IPA: UK /pəˈpɑː/, US /ˈpɑː.pə/[1]
Etymology
It is borrowed from French papa,[2][3][4] from Late Latin pāpa, a reduplicated child's word,[2][3][5] like Ancient Greek πάππας (páppas, “father”).[2][3][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Father: 1677 in Merriam-Webster, 1681 in the OED, the 1680s in Etymonline.[5][6][2]
Semantic evolution
The OED, as quoted by Etymonline, says papa was first used in courtly speech as a continental affectation, and was not used by ordinary people until the late 18th century;[2] the native word is daddy.[2] It was shortened to pa in dialect in the 19th century, and the variant pappa survives in American poppa and pop.[3] In American slang a papa was a woman's lover or husband (1904).[6]
Timeline
- 1677 – papa, father.[5]
- late 18th century – in common use.[2]
- 19th century – pa.[3]
- 1904 – a lover (US slang).[6]
Modern meaning
Noun
- (old-fashioned, informal) Father.
Word family
- grandpapa
Related words
Usage notes
Other words spelled papa are separate: the pope (1555) and an Orthodox priest (1591), from Late Latin and Greek words for a priest;[6][5] a blue-grey clay of New Zealand (1873);[6][4] and, in American Spanish, the potato, from Quechua.[5] Papa is also the code word for the letter P.[4]
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press