maternally
Americanadverb
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through the mother (used to describe how people are related, how traits are inherited, etc.).
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in a maternal way; in a way that is characteristic of a mother.
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.
Researchers recovered nuclear DNA, finding that the men were second-degree relatives, most likely maternally related.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 3, 2024
Patterns of variation in the Y chromosome, which is paternally inherited, and in mitochondrial DNA, which is maternally inherited, can reveal differences in how males and females dispersed after reaching maturity.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 17, 2023
Any maternally inherited chromosome may face either pole.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Moore had been a keen hobbyist in traditional genealogy and in early consumer genomics, which had allowed the tracking of direct male lines through the Y-chromosome and of maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA.
From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2021
“How did your first day go, dear?” the receptionist asked maternally.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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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.
