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Webster 1913 Edition

Paterfamilias

‖

Paˊter-fa-milˊi-as

,

Noun.

;

pl.

Pateresfamilias

(#)

.

[L., fr.

pater

father +

familias

, gen. of

familia

family.]

(Rom. Law)

The head of a family; in a large sense, the proprietor of an estate; one who is his own master.