Pater Familias
Pater familias was master of the house, the father of the family, including blood relatives and slaves.For more on the role of the pater familias, see this the Roman Family article.
The Latin form for "father of the family," which is what pater familias translates as, looks odd because the genitive of "family" is not the familiae we expect. Familias is an archaic genitive.
Alternate Spelling: paterfamilias (one word)
