fatherling

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From father +‎ -ling.

Noun[edit]

fatherling (plural fatherlings)

  1. (diminutive, endearing) A father.
    • 2006, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment:
      Katherine Ivanovna rose from her chair, and in an outwardly calm voice (though she turned pale and her chest was heaving) told her that if she once more made so bold as to put her “dirty little fatherling" in the same class with her own dear papa, [...]
  2. A father's child.
    • 2012, Thomas R. Trautmann, Peter M. Whiteley, Crow-Omaha:
      Because P (parent) and Ch (child) elide gender distinctions, Gould substitutes two pairs of terms: F (father) and F (fatherling, or man's child); [...]
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