dad English · revision 3160

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=before 1500}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dæd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably from children's speech,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) perhaps imitating a young child's first syllables da, da.^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) Such words are nearly universal and probably prehistoric:^(Etymonline) 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.^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Old High German had a similar word, tōdo.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A familiar word for father: perhaps before 1500 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1500 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and the 15th century in Merriam-Webster;^(MWU 2024) Barnhart has daddy before 1529 and dad in 1553.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In early use dad ranked with mam as a word of the common people, while papa and mamma were the polite forms.^(OED 1989) ''Dad'' as a form of address to a man who is not one's father, often not elderly, is from 1959.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) ''Daddy'' is from the 16th century,^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) and ''daddy-longlegs'' from before 1814.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1500 – father.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1529 – daddy.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1553 – dad.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1959 – a form of address to another man.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' A [[father]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' A form of [[address]] to an older man.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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,^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) and a Scots and northern verb and noun meaning “to knock, beat” and “a blow; a lump”.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}