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father (n.)[father 词源字典]: Old English fæder "he who begets a child, nearest male ancestor;" also "any lineal male ancestor; the Supreme Being," and by late Old English, "one who exercises parental care over another," from Proto-Germanic *fader (cognates: Old Saxon fadar, Old Frisian feder, Dutch vader, Old Norse faðir, Old High German fatar, German vater; in Gothic usually expressed by atta), from PIE *pəter- "father" (cognates: Sanskrit pitar-, Greek pater, Latin pater, Old Persian pita, Old Irish athir "father"), presumably from baby-speak sound "pa." The ending formerly was regarded as an agent-noun affix.
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

[Wordsworth, 1802]
The classic example of Grimm's Law, where PIE "p-" becomes Germanic "f-." Spelling with -th- (15c.) reflects widespread phonetic shift in Middle English that turned -der to -ther in many words, perhaps reinforced in this case by Old Norse forms; spelling caught up to pronunciation in 1500s (compare mother (n.), weather (n.)). As a title of various Church dignitaries from c. 1300; meaning "creator, inventor, author" is from mid-14c.; that of "anything that gives rise to something else" is from late 14c. As a respectful title for an older man, recorded from 1550s. Father-figure is from 1954. Fathers "leading men, elders" is from 1580s.[father etymology, father origin, 英语词源]
father (v.): c. 1400, from father (n.). Related: Fathered; fathering.
Father's Day: 1910, begun in Spokane, Washington, U.S., but not widespread until 1940s; an imitation of Mother's Day.
father-in-law (n.): late 14c., from father (n.) + in-law.
fatherhood (n.): early 14c., faderhade; see father (n.) + -hood.
fatherland (n.): "one's native country," 1620s, from father (n.) + land (n.). In modern use often a loan-translation of German Vaterland, itself a loan-translation of Latin patria (terra), literally "father's land." Similar formation in Dutch vaderland, Danish fædreland, Swedish fädernesland. Late Old English/Middle English fæderland (c. 1100) meant "parental land, inheritance."
fatherless (adj.): Old English fæderleas; see father (n.) + -less. Similar formation in Dutch vaderloos, German vaterlos, Danish faderlös.
fatherly (adj.): Old English fæderlic "fatherly, paternal; ancestral;" see father (n.) + -ly (1). Similar formation in Dutch vaderlijk, German väterlich. Related: Fatherliness.
fathom (n.): Old English fæðm "length of the outstretched arm" (a measure of about six feet), also "arms, grasp, embrace," and, figuratively "power," from Proto-Germanic *fathmaz "embrace" (cognates: Old Norse faðmr "embrace, bosom," Old Saxon fathmos "the outstretched arms," Dutch vadem "a measure of six feet"), from PIE *pot(ə)-mo-, from root *petə- "to spread, stretch out" (see pace (n.)). It has apparent cognates in Old Frisian fethem, German faden "thread," which OED explains by reference to "spreading out." As a unit of measure, in an early gloss it appears for Latin passus, which was about 5 feet.
fathom (v.): Old English fæðmian "to embrace, surround, envelop," from a Proto-Germanic verb derived from the source of fathom (n.); cognates: Old High German fademon, Old Norse faþma. The meaning "take soundings" is from c. 1600; its figurative sense of "get to the bottom of, penetrate with the mind, understand" is from 1620s. Related: Fathomed; fathoming.
fathomable (adj.): 1630s, figurative; 1690s, literal; from fathom (v.) + -able.
fathomless (adj.): 1630s, literal ("bottomless"); 1640s, figurative ("not to be comprehended"); from fathom + -less.
fatigue (n.): 1660s, "that which causes weariness," from French fatigue "weariness," from fatiguer "to tire" (15c.), from Latin fatigare "to weary, to tire out," originally "to cause to break down," from pre-Latin adjective *fati-agos "driving to the point of breakdown," with first half from Old Latin *fatis, which is of unknown origin but apparently related to affatim (adv.) "sufficiently" and to fatisci "crack, split." The second half is the root of agere "to drive" (see act (n.)).

Especially "the labors of military persons" (1776). Meaning "a feeling of weariness from exertion" is from 1719. Of metals or other materials under strain, from 1877.
fatigue (v.): 1690s, from French fatiguer "to tire" (15c.), from fatigue (see fatigue (n.)). Earlier in same sense was fatigate (1530s), from Latin fatigatus, past participle of fatigare. Related: Fatigued; fatiguing; fatigation (c. 1500).
fatigues (n.): 1776, "extra duties of a soldier," from fatigue (n.). As a military clothing outfit, from 1836, short for fatigue dress (1833); fatigue cap is from 1824.
Fatimid: also Fatimite, in reference to the Arab dynasty that ruled 908-1171 in North Africa and sometimes Egypt and Syria, is from Fatima, daughter of Muhammad by his first wife, Khadija; Fatima married Ali, and from them the dynasty claimed descent.
fatling (n.): "lamb, kid, or other young animal fattened for slaughter," 1520s, from fat (n.) + -ling.
fatness (n.): Old English fætnesse; see fat (adj.) + -ness.
Fatso: nickname for a fat person, by 1944, elaboration of Fats, from fat (adj.).
fatten (v.): 1550s, "to make fat," from fat + -en (1). Intransitive sense from 1630s. Related: Fattened; fattener. The earlier verb was simply fat (v.).