# Priests=father? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-father/375108 "2006-10-03T15:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YPOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e99b99/32.png) [@YPOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YPOD)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-father/375108/1 "2006-10-03T15:02:44Z")
When did they start calling priests “father?” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-father/375108/2 "2006-10-03T15:53:10Z")
From the [Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=padre&searchmode=none) > [@](#): > > padre > “priest, chaplain,” 1584, from It., Sp. or Port. padre, from L. patrem (nom. pater) “father.” The title of the regular clergy in those languages. Papar was the name the Norse gave to Irish monks whom they found in Iceland when they arrived. The romance languages all use the same term for priest and father. The Pope is Il Papa in Italian. Father is derived from a common proto-Indo-European word pa- A list of Indo-European terms for father show a series of cognates: > **[Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/?date=20010618)** > > Committed to publishing great books, connecting readers and authors globally, and spreading the love of reading. > [@](#): > > Below is a list of cognates for father in various of these languages: > father (Modern English) > fader (Middle English) > faeder (Old English; the ae is the short a sound in cat) > fader (Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish) > vader (Dutch) > vater (German) > pater (Latin) > padre (Spanish, Italian) > père (French) > pai (Portugese; they use padre for ‘priest’) > pater (Greek; the -ter is pronounced “tare” and the e should have a macron over it) > pitar (Sanskrit) > pita (Hindi; the a is pronounced like the a in part and should have a macron over it) Priest itself is from the Latin for elder, a similar connotation: > [@](#): > > O.E. preost, shortened from the older Gmc. form represented by O.S., O.H.G. prestar, O.Fris. prestere, from V.L. \*prester “priest,” from L.L. presbyter “presbyter, elder,” from Gk. presbyteros (see Presbyterian). ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-father/375108/3 "2006-10-03T16:09:53Z")
So if I understand all of that, the real question is, in English, why and when did we _stop_ using “father” as a _job description_ for a priest? In other words, in English we’ve retained it as a form of address only. We say, “Joe is a priest”, and address him as “Father Joe”. Whereas in Spanish, Jose is a padre, and we address him as Padre Jose. Does the separation have anything to do with the English Reformation? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-father/375108/4 "2006-10-03T19:25:16Z")
I’m not sure that your Spanish example is correct. When I was studying Spanish (lo, these many generations ago), we used _sacerdote_ and _cura_ to translate the word priest. The U.S. (and British?) military has a habit of using the Spanish _padre_ as descriptive noun as well as a title, but I am not sure that that usage holds among speakers of Spanish. As to the dating of either **YPOD** ’s question or that of **Freddy the Pig** , I don’t actually have the answers and I have not yet found a clear reference. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/priests-father/375108/5 "2006-10-03T20:16:04Z")
We’re not alone **Freddy the Pig** in French the job is “prêtre” but he is addressed as “mon père”. I’ve _never_ heard any of my Italian friends talk about a _padre_! They also have a “sacerdote” but the commonest word is “prete” altho’ I have also heard “predicce” (I’m unsure of the spelling, it could be a Veneto dialect word) which is literally a "preacher.