FromMiddle Englishfaderly, fromOld Englishfæderlīċ(“fatherly, paternal”), fromProto-West Germanic*faderlīk, fromProto-Germanic*fadurlīkaz(“fatherly, paternal”), equivalent tofather +-ly. Cognate withWest Frisianfaderlik(“fatherly”),Dutchvaderlijk(“fatherly”),Germanväterlich(“fatherly”),Danishfaderlig(“fatherly”),Swedishfaderlig(“fatherly”),Icelandicföðurlegur(“fatherly”) .Doublet offatherlike.
fatherly (comparativemorefatherly,superlativemostfatherly)
- Characteristic of what is considered the ideal behaviour pertaining tofatherhood.
- fatherly advice
- Befitting of afather;protective,paternal.
characteristic of what is considered the ideal behaviour pertaining to fatherhood
characteristic of fathers, paternal
FromMiddle Englishfaderly,fadirly, fromOld Englishfæderlīċe(“in a fatherly way, as a father”), equivalent tofather +-ly.
fatherly (comparativemorefatherly,superlativemostfatherly)
- In a way pertaining to, befitting, or of afather.
1589,The Return ofPasquill:Exhorting himfatherlie to giue ouer that course.
a.1723,Increase Mather, “A Vindication of New-England”, inThe Andros Tracts: […], New York, N.Y.: Burt Franklin, published1869, page 27 (page 9 of chapter):[…]; tho’ God hath for a whileFatherly Chaſtiſed them by thoſe Rods which he hath afterwards conſumed.
1848,James Russell Lowell, “The Changeling”, inPoems, second series, Cambridge: George Nichols; Boston: B. B. Mussey and Company, page162:This child is not mine as the first was, / I cannot sing it to rest, / I cannot lift it upfatherly / And bliss it upon my breast;
1850,Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point”, inPoems, volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, stanza VII, page131:Indeed we live beneath the sky, . . / That great smooth Hand of God, stretched out / On all His childrenfatherly, / To bless them from the fear and doubt, / Which would be, if, from this low place, / All opened straight up to His face / Into the grand eternity.
1970, Ronny Pearlman,The Monday Man, page39:He lookedfatherly at me.
1988,Phyllis Ann Karr, “Two Bits of Embroidery”, inParke Godwin, editor,Invitation to Camelot: An Arthurian Anthology of Short Stories, New York, N.Y.:Ace Books,→ISBN,page41:When she fell forward a little, as if she were half fainting with the pleasure, he held her,fatherly, in his arms until she recovered.
