pater familias
Roman family chief
Pater familias is Latin for "father of the family," referring to the male head of a Roman household who held legal authority over wife, children, slaves, and property.
The term survives in legal and historical contexts, and sometimes appears in English to describe any patriarchal authority figure: He ruled the dinner table like a pater familias.
- paterArchaic term for dad
- fatherMale parent
- old manElderly male person
- progenitorAncestor or originator
- manusForelimb extremity, anatomically
potestas · ancestor · property rights · emancipation · lustration · Roman law · ancient Rome · household gods · legal guardianship · male line · bulla · lineage · head of household · father-figure · duty · sons · inheritance · housefather
- patriarchsAbraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Adam
- Roman societypatrician, patricians, plebeian, plebeians, citizen
- Roman LawRoman law, Corpus Juris Civilis, Justinian Code, Twelve Tables, Digest
- patriarchymale dominance, male supremacy, patria potestas, male privilege, patriarchate
- Ancient RomeRome, Julius Caesar, Caesar, gladiator, gladiators
- ancient titlesconsul, pharaoh, praetor, vizier, tribune
pater familiasmatriarch
Female family leader
materfamilias · clan mother · mother figure · grandmother · queen mother
pater familiasdependent
Requiring outside support
subordinate · ward · slave · child · minor child