Etymology Of Father S Day

Father s day celebrated in the united states on the third sunday of june got a jump start from the formation of mother s day.

Etymology of father s day. In 1909 sonora dodd a woman from spokane washington founded father s day in the us. The quick answer is that mother s day set a precedent on this fuzzy grammatical issue of apostrophe placement. With the apostrophe before the s father s day belongs to each individual father. In catholic countries of europe it has been celebrated on march 19 as saint joseph s day since the middle ages in america father s day was founded by sonora smart dodd and celebrated on the third sunday of june for the first time in 1910.

O f all the words we use our fathers from pappy to old man the most common american appellation is three little letters. Scholars believe that the origin of father s day is not a latest phenomenon as many believe it to be. If the apostrophe fell after the s the meaning slightly changes. At the turn of the century mother s day observances were growing across the united states.

Credit for beginning father s day celebrations is given to sonora smart dodd from spokane washington. For now let s look at where the word father comes from and why we use an apostrophe in father s day the etymology of father. After all men dominated american society in the early 20th century. Our modern word father comes from the old english fæder which meant he who begets a child.

Father s day is a day of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds as well as the influence of fathers in society. She wanted to her honor her father william smart a civil war veteran who raised her and 5 siblings after his wife died giving birth to their last child. Sonora wanted to honor him during his birth month which happened to be in june. Rather they claim that the tradition of father s day can be traced in the ruins of babylon.

In history books there is mention of a southern european tradition dating back to 1508. And what better way to celebrate than with a little etymology. In addition a father s day or day that recognizes the role of fathers in the family is an ancient tradition. The supreme being and by late old english one who exercises parental care over another from proto germanic fader source also of old saxon fadar old frisian feder dutch vader old norse faðir old high german fatar german vater.

They have recorded that a young boy called elmesu carved a father s day message on a card made out of clay nearly 4 000 years ago. There ll be time for that later. A slap up meal followed by a nap in the sunshine you say. Dad and with father s day arriving this weekend you may be wondering.