ˈall-ˌfather
[all- E 3 + father, after ON. Al-fadir.]
The father of all, the universal father.
1. a. orig. A title of Odin, the Al-fadir of the Edda.
| 1810 W. Taylor in Month. Mag. XXIX. 321 Nor, by Al-father, shall it be conniv'd at. 1864 Kingsley Rom. & Teut. iii. (1875) 69 Woden, the All-father, was superior to one of his sons. |
b. Transferred to Jupiter.
| 1870 Bryant Homer I. viii. 239 The All-Father took his golden scales. |
c. Applied to God.
| 1826 Kirby & Spence Entomol. III. xxxv. 694 The wisdom and skill of the Allfather. 1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke II. xv. 225 Had we not an All-Father?.. Did He not love us, too, even as we loved each other? 1874 M. Collins Th. in Garden (1880) II. i. 11 Doing that which is right, you grasp the hand of the Allfather, and that grasp gives safety. 1945 Auden Coll. Poetry 69 Only the All-Father Can change the cast or give them Easier lines to say. |