housefather

[ hous-fah-th er ]
/ ˈhaʊsˌfɑ ðər /

noun

a man responsible for a group of young people, as students, living in a dormitory, hostel, etc.

Origin of housefather

1545–55; house + father; compare Latin paterfamilias

Example sentences from the Web for housefather

  • Blood relationship, family, and the rulership of the housefather are in this early period the base and centre of social order.

    Women of the Teutonic Nations |Hermann Schoenfeld
  • “Nothing warm in the house,” said the housefather, a carpenter himself.

    A Tramp's Wallet |William Duthie
  • Go only to Father Balthazar, housefather, and see if he doth not call it a sending of a lamb among wolves.

    The Dove in the Eagle's Nest |Charlotte M. Yonge

British Dictionary definitions for housefather

housefather
/ (ˈhaʊsˌfɑːðə) /

noun

a man in charge of the welfare of a particular group of children in an institution such as a children's home or approved school

Derived forms of housefather

housemother, fem n