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
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
Researchers were able to directly sequence and analyze maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA and paternally inherited Y chromosomes from both contemporary and Ancient Indigenous populations.
From Scientific American • Apr. 20, 2021
“How did your first day go, dear?” the receptionist asked maternally.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Definitions 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.
