What does papa in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word papa in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use papa in French.

The word papa in French means father, Dad, Daddy, candy floss, dad-in-law, grandad, granddad, grandpa, daddy's boy, daddy's girl, father-to-be, grandad, grandpa, new father, play mummies and daddies, soft touch with your kids, soft touch with your children, doting father, Petit Papa Noël. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word papa

father

nom masculin (enfantin (père)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Son papa les emmenait tous les jours à l'école.
Her dad (or: daddy) took them to school every day.

Dad, Daddy

interjection (enfantin (appellation affectueuse)

(interjection: Exclamation--for example, "Oh no!" "Wow!")
Papa, je peux avoir une glace, s'il te plaît ?
Dad (or: Daddy), please can I have an ice cream?

candy floss

nom féminin (type de sucrerie) (UK)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ce que je préfère faire à la fête foraine, c'est manger de la barbe à papa.
Eating candy floss is my favourite thing to do at the funfair.

dad-in-law

nom masculin (familier (père du conjoint) (partner's father)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Marc s'entend très bien avec son beau-papa.

grandad, granddad, grandpa

nom masculin (enfantin, vieilli (grand-père)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
J'aime bien aller jouer à l'atelier avec bon-papa.

daddy's boy, daddy's girl

(péjoratif ([qqn] dont le père a une bonne situation) (pejorative)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

father-to-be

nom masculin (homme qui va avoir un enfant)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

grandad, grandpa

nom masculin (enfantin, vieilli (grand-père)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Grand-papa viendra nous voir à Noël.

new father

nom masculin (homme récemment père)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

play mummies and daddies

locution verbale (faire semblant d'être parent) (UK)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

soft touch with your kids, soft touch with your children

nom masculin (père qui gâte trop ses enfants)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Je n'aurais jamais cru que Patrick aurait fait un papa gâteau.
I would never have thought Patrick would be such a soft touch with his kids.

doting father

nom masculin (familier (père couvant ses enfants)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ce juge est très sévère, mais en privé, c'est un vrai papa poule et un voisin charmant.

Petit Papa Noël

nom propre masculin (chanson enfantine) (song title)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Tino Rossi a popularisé la chanson « Petit Papa Noël ».

Let's learn French

So now that you know more about the meaning of papa in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.