Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Relating to or characteristic of a father or fatherhood; fatherly.
- adj. Received or inherited from a father: a paternal trait.
- adj. Related through one's father: my paternal aunt.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or pertaining to a father; proper to or characteristic of a father; fatherly: as, paternal care or affection; paternal favor or admonition.
- Derived from the father; hereditary; as, a paternal estate.
Wiktionary
- adj. Of or pertaining to one's father, his genes, his relatives, or his side of a family; as, "paternal grandfather" (one's father's father).
- adj. Fatherly; behaving as or characteristic of a father.
- adj. Received or inherited from one's father.
- adj. Acting as a father; as in "paternal filicide" (murder of a son committed by his father).
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of or pertaining to a father; fatherly; showing the disposition of a father; guiding or instructing as a father.
- adj. Received or derived from a father; hereditary.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. belonging to or inherited from one's father
- adj. relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent
- adj. characteristic of a father
- adj. related on the father's side
Etymologies
- From Old French paternal ("of a father") (12c.), a learned borrowing from Vulgar Latin paternālis ("paternal"), from Classical Latin paternus ("of or pertaining to a father, paternal"), from pater ("father"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin paternālis, from Latin paternus, from pater, father; see pəter- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The term paternal correction is also applied to it.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery
“The word paternal is gender neutral, or may be used for the male guardian, but it primarily relates to or is characteristic of befitting a parent.”
France Lets In Gay Adoption Under Sarkozy « Unambiguously Ambidextrous
““Just so,” said Mr Low — only that what you call a paternal government is not always quiet and orderly.”
“Just so," said Mr Low -- only that what you call a paternal government is not always quiet and orderly.”
“The novel's representation of the paternal is of course implicated in this drawing and redrawing of the boundaries of nature.”
Patriarchal Fantasy and the Fecal Child in Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_ and its Adaptations
“The use of the word paternal calls to mind the way they threw a cordon around the country to prevent at the threshold the entrance of men who were unprepared for the hardships with either clothing or supplies or physique.”
Policing the Plains Being the Real-Life Record of the Famous North-West Mounted Police
“He strove hard to reconcile the memories of the night with the feelings of the morning -- strove to realize a state of mind in which a measure of forgiveness to his son blended with a measure of satisfaction to the wounded pride he called paternal dignity.”
“Imposition of hands was a ceremony used especially in paternal blessings; Jacob used it when he blessed and adopted the sons of Joseph, Gen. xlviii.”
“Just so," said Mr. Low, — "only that what you call a paternal government is not always quiet and orderly.”
“Just so," said Mr. Low, -- "only that what you call a paternal government is not always quiet and orderly.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘paternal’.
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Odd Anagrams
Sets of anagrams that have contrasting or related meanings.
casual, causal, parental, paternal, prenatal, atoners, senator, treason, listen, silent, dictionary, indicatory and 110 more...
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reginaterra's Words
purl, blow, squish, andean, generality, adaptation, lush, pack, filter, acquiesce, abstraction, sweet and 508 more...
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dienekes's Words
chutzpah, lexicon, intrepid, pedagogical, schlemiel, schism, erudite, anathema, pugilist, jaunty, paradigm, automaton and 949 more...
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One more switchback
Tip of the hat to Stephen, who always tells me "only one more switchback" as we go up the trail. Usually it is a lie, but it still works!
switchback, heavens to murgat..., prosody, catarrh, ice storm, existential, predicament, intermingle, comingle, stolid, zeitgeist, bibliophage and 146 more...
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Norman Lewis
All Words
ebullient, eccentric, eclectic, edify, efface, effusion, egalitarian, egocentric, egoist, egregious, elicit, elliptical and 907 more...
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My favorites
deja-vu, reticent, paternal, ambience, inquisitive, endeavour, elixir, rejuvenate, procrastinate, jeopardize
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