paternal
Americanadjective
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characteristic of or befitting a father; fatherly.
a kind and paternal reprimand.
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of or relating to a father.
-
related on the father's side.
one's paternal grandfather.
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derived or inherited from a father.
paternal traits.
adjective
-
relating to or characteristic of a father, esp in showing affection, encouragement, etc; fatherly
-
(prenominal) related through the father
his paternal grandfather
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inherited or derived from the male parent
Synonym Usage
See fatherly.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of paternal
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Old French paternel, from Late Latin paternālis, equivalent to Latin patern(us) “paternal” ( pater father + -nus adjective suffix) + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
The word paternal describes anything that has to do with fatherhood, like your dad's paternal habit of giving you advice, always including some "when I was a boy..." tales. Paternal originates from the Old French word of the same spelling, meaning "of a father." For example, your paternal grandparents are your father's parents. (Your mom's parents are your maternal grandparents.) Paternal describes your father specifically, or fatherhood in general, like common paternal activities like father-son fishing trips and making sure the guy who is dating his daughter is respectful and sincere.
Vocabulary lists containing paternal
It's All in the Family
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Not Your Father's Word List: Pater, Patr
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Father's Day Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Combining those efforts could eventually help researchers better understand paternal mortality across the United States and develop a system for tracking the problem nationally.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
A friend of mine once received paternal advice to retire his collection of personality socks until he had secured a job at a law firm.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
As “Lincoln in the Bardo” tells it, this paternal visit complicates matters for Willie’s spirit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Engelsman says all three former presenters were supportive of their successors and "were very paternal and caring about it".
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
It was painful to know that our paternal grandmother lived less than a day’s drive away and we had not seen her more than twice in our lifetimes.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
