A word all three dictionaries trace from Old English fæder, with cognates in Latin and Greek.
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The sequence below summarizes the cited forms, dates and evidence. It is not a complete scholarly history.
Merriam-Webster, American Heritage, and Etymonline all agree that father comes from Middle English fader from Old English fæder, and Merriam-Webster and American Heritage list cognates in Latin pater and Greek patēr, while Etymonline explains the regular PIE p to Germanic f correspondence.
This page summarizes the cited sources. Follow each source for its full wording, notes and references.
Word-specific details from cited sources, with sources named beside each claim.
Merriam-Webster, American Heritage, and Etymonline all trace father through Middle English fader from Old English fæder.
Merriam-Webster and American Heritage list cognates in Latin pater and Greek patēr, with Merriam-Webster also giving Old High German fater.
Etymonline explains the regular PIE p to Germanic f correspondence behind the pater/father pairing.
Merriam-Webster gives first known use before the 12th century for noun sense 1a, which is dictionary evidence rather than the word's creation date.
Father is a Germanic word with cognates in Latin pater and Greek patēr. Loanwords, cognates and false friends: three different questions
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5 history stepsschoolGreek scholē began with leisure, discussion and learning before the word reached English — while a different word entirely gave us schools of fish.scholēschool
4 history stepscoffeeArabic qahwa reached English coffee through Turkish; dictionaries differ on the last step, with Italian caffè, Turkish kahve and Dutch koffie all proposed.qahwacoffee
3 history stepsrobotA Czech word for compulsory labour became the name of a stage machine.robotarobot