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papa

American  
[pah-puh, puh-pah] / ˈpɑ pə, pəˈpɑ /

noun

  1. father.

  2. Papa, a code word used in communications, especially by radio, to represent the letter P.

Papa 1 British  
/ ˈpɑːpɑː /

noun

  1. communications a code word for the letter p

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
papa 2 British  
/ pəˈpɑː /

noun

  1. old-fashioned an informal word for father

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
papa 3 British  
/ ˈpɑːpɑː /

noun

  1. RC Church another name for the pope 1

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
papa 4 British  
/ ˈpɑːpa /

noun

  1. rare. a soft blue-grey clay of marine siltstone or sandstone

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of papa

First recorded in 1675–85; from French; Middle French pappa (nursery word); compare Latin pāpa “father” ( pope ), Old Norse pāpi, pabbi “father”; pap 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

‘You’ve got to take care of mama bear and papa bear first.’

From MarketWatch • Dec. 16, 2025

Someone’s got to pay as papa becomes grand-père, but the forecast is bleak.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025

To me, and everyone else in my family, he’s always been papa.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025

But not before papa Ozzy got a few words in edgewise.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2025

“Did you know your papa used to make the sechach out of the roses? It was so pretty.”

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.