city father
3
7.8
- noun
- Literature
:
padre de la ciudad
- The city fathers approved the new park design after months of community meetings.
Examples
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I wonder what the city fathers of Hiroshima would say about that.
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The city fathers give their blessing to the project.
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Just when it appeared that all hope was lost... the city fathers came up with one last great idea.
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You think the city fathers would name a street corner after you?
Fiction book (1994) -
I'm thinking seriously of becoming a city father myself...
Academic text (1991) -
But the city fathers had planned a park by the river because Bilbao's heavy industry has mostly died.
Academic text (1999) -
"These were the city fathers that promoted the incorporation of Half Moon Bay in 1959."
Blog text (32) -
In anticipation of a larger than usual turnout, the city fathers moved the Early Voting from City Hall to the Convention.
Blog text (32) -
She finished her accounts and was pleased to be able to report to the city fathers that she had generated a sizable profit, part of which they could use to help pay off the construction costs.
Fiction book (1992) -
When about 3,000 poor villagers from Wuerttemberg approached the port, the nervous city fathers blocked the routes.
Academic text (1993)
Synonyms
105
4.7
A man who is on a town or city council
35
7.7
A member of a city council elected to represent a local area
6
3.5
A person who helps make decisions and organize services for a city
5
3.6
A person on a city or town council who helps make rules and plans
A person elected to a council to represent a local area
A person who leads a city or local community and helps run public services
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'city father' combines 'city' with 'father' used metaphorically for a senior or respected leader; a B1 learner who knows these words can infer it refers to an important or respected municipal official. The 'X father' pattern (e.g. founding father, father of the nation) is a predictable metaphorical extension found across languages, making the meaning transparently derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The noun city father comes from using father to mean the respected head of a family or group in a city. Long ago, city leaders were seen like family heads who guided and protected the people, so city father came to mean 'an important and respected city official'.