Other forms: godfathers
A godfather is the man chosen at a child's christening to take an interest in their upbringing. My godfather, ask him to be godfather, a godfather's gift.
The female equivalent is godmother and the child is a godson or goddaughter; godparent covers both. In the Christian ceremony the godparents make promises on the child's behalf, and in ordinary modern practice the role is honorary and social. The other sense is a Mafia boss, from Mario Puzo's novel and the films made from it. Note fairy godmother, from the fairy tales.
1noungodfatherA man chosen to take an interest in a child's upbringing.
“Her godfather sent a book every birthday for about twenty years.”
2nounheadThe head of a criminal family.
“The police finally arrested the godfather of the city's biggest crime family.”
godfather is a role in a child's life.
Old English godfaeder is god plus father — a father in God, meaning a spiritual rather than a biological one. English built the whole family the same way, and every one of them has survived unchanged.
Old English
godfæder — godfather
Middle English
godfader
English, today
godfather
From Middle English godfader, from Old English godfæder (“godfather”), equivalent to god + father. Cognate with Old Saxon godfadar (“godfather”), Middle Dutch godvader (“godfather”), Danish gudfader, gudfar (“godfather”), Swedish gudfader, gudfar (“godfather”), Icelandic guðfaðir (“godfather”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA