fathering
SayFAH-thuh-ringUS/ˈfɑðəɹɪŋ/AUS/ˈfɐːðəɹɪŋ/UKFAH-thuh-ing/ˈfɑːðə(ɹ)ɪŋ/
- 1Present participle and gerund of father.
Fathering a child in his teens forced him to grow up quickly.
He is often credited with fathering the modern detective novel.
Note
One -ing form carries every sense of the verb: begetting, nurturing, adopting, and the figurative giving rise to. The object usually decides which is meant. Fathering a child points to siring, while fathering a genre, a theory or a movement means originating it. As a gerund it fills noun slots (fathering takes patience); as a participle it follows be in progressive tenses (he is fathering a new project).
fathering is a form of father
father, verb: To beget a child as the male parent; to sire. Full entry
- Spelling
- father → fathering: add -ing
Use it in a sentence
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