paterfamilias

noun

pa·​ter·​fa·​mil·​i·​as ˌpa-tər-fə-ˈmi-lē-əs 

ˌpä-,

ˌpā-

plural patresfamilias ˌpā-ˌtrēz- 

ˌpä-ˌtrās-

1

: the male head of a household

2

: the father of a family

3

: a man who originates or is a leading figure in something (such as a movement, discipline, or enterprise)

Examples of paterfamilias in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s also a concern about acting as if your son were a source of shame, a secret to be hidden from the paterfamilias. —Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2022

In a sense this is a classic family drama: the struggle over the paterfamilias’s legacy, complete with allegations of late-in-life changes to the will. —Benjamin Soskis, Town & Country, 27 Oct. 2022

Schumer’s actions as paterfamilias of Senate Democrats are often informed by his New York sensibilities. —Grace Segers, The New Republic, 13 Sep. 2022

Andy Garcia plays the paterfamilias in this 2022 remake of the 1991 remake of the 1950 comedy. —Tribune News Service, cleveland, 12 June 2022

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, from pater father + familias, archaic genitive of familia household — more at father, family

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1