Meaning of PATERNAL
| Pronunciation: | | pu'turnl
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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- [adj] relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent; "parental guidance"
- [adj] characteristic of a father
- [adj] belonging to or inherited from one's father; "spent his childhood on the paternal farm"; "paternal traits"
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| | Synonyms: | | fatherlike, fatherly, maternal, parental, paternalistic |
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| | Antonyms: | | filial | | |
| | See Also: | | patriarchal | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \Pa*ter"nal\, a. [L. paternus, fr. pater a father: cf.
F. paternel. See {Father}.]
1. Of or pertaining to a father; fatherly; showing the
disposition of a father; guiding or instructing as a
father; as, paternal care. ``Under paternal rule.''
--Milton.
2. Received or derived from a father; hereditary; as, a
paternal estate.
Their small paternal field of corn. --Dryden.
{Paternal government} (Polit. Science), the assumption by the
governing power of a quasi-fatherly relation to the
people, involving strict and intimate supervision of their
business and social concerns, upon the theory that they
are incapable of managing their own afffairs.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | adoring, affectionate, ancestorial, ancestral, concerned, conjugal, demonstrative, devoted, faithful, fatherlike, fatherly, filial, fond, grandfatherly, grandmotherly, grandparental, husbandly, indulgent, kindly, languishing, lovelorn, lovesick, lovesome, loving, maternal, melting, mother, motherlike, motherly, parent, parental, patriarchal, patrilateral, patrilineal, patrilinear, patrimonial, romantic, sentimental, soft, solicitous, tender, uxorious, wifely |
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