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.
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related on the father's side.
one's paternal grandfather.
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derived or inherited from a father.
paternal traits.
adjective
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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
Related Words
See fatherly.
Other Word Forms
- nonpaternal adjective
- nonpaternally adverb
- paternally adverb
- unpaternal adjective
- unpaternally adverb
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.
Prader-Willi syndrome stems from the loss of function of specific genes on the paternal copy of chromosome 15.
From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026
Like me, my paternal grandfather and my father also held decent white-collar jobs throughout their working lives and invested in the the stock market.
From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026
The others are the author’s paternal grandparents, José María and Petra Peña.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026
Gilberg spent a lot of time with his paternal grandparents, who lived nearby with their adult daughter, Belle.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2026
Exhilarated by the sight of our paternal grandmother’s home, we walked hurriedly down the hill toward the pink stucco building within the corral-like fence, being careful not to jostle Pita too much in the stretcher.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
