a tribute to Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the other Founding Fathers
Theodor Herzl is often credited as the founding father of modern Zionism.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'founding father.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
1886
author, begetter, creator, establisher, father, founder, generator, inaugurator, initiator, instituter (or institutor), originator, sire;
conceiver, contriver, designer, deviser, formulator, innovator, introducer, inventor, spawner;
: a person who helps to create or establish something : a person who founds something
: a man who had an important part in creating the government of the U.S.; specifically : a member of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787
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