parental

American  

[puh-ren-tl] / pəˈrɛn tl /

adjective

1. of or relating to a parent.

2. proper to or characteristic of a parent.

   parental feelings.

3. having the relation of a parent

4. Genetics. pertaining to the sequence of generations preceding the filial generation, each generation being designated by a P followed by a subscript number indicating its place in the sequence.

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noun

1. Also called parental unit.  Informal. one's parent.

   I'm headed for a vacation with the parentals.

Other Word Forms

• interparental adjective
• nonparental adjective
• nonparentally adverb
• parentally adverb
• postparental adjective
• unparental adjective
• unparentally adverb

Etymology

Origin of parental

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin parentālis “of, belonging to parents,” equivalent to parent- “parent” + -ālis adjective suffix; parent, -al ¹

Example Sentences

Depending on the app, those include content restrictions and blocks on messaging and livestreaming, as well as usage limits and links to parental accounts.

From The Wall Street Journal

State law does require advance notice, but it does not say parental permission is required for that one protected civic activity day per year.

From Los Angeles Times

The father, who hadn’t initially pursued all his parental rights, sought joint guardianship and requested he be consulted on parental decisions.

From The Wall Street Journal

Indeed, parental figures were very much on the periphery.

From BBC

Companies on Tuesday, such as Google, outlined some of the work they’ve done around safety, including parental controls to set time limits for scrolling through short videos.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fatherly
• maternal
• paternal