maternal

Meaning

Adj

1. Of or pertaining to a mother; having the characteristics of a mother; motherly.
2. Related through the mother, or her side of the family.
3. Derived from the mother as opposed to the foetus during pregnancy.

Noun

1. (dated, informal, rare) A mother.
2. (rare) A person related through the mother, or her side of the family; a maternal relative.

Opposite of

fatherly, paternal, fetal, foetal

Synonyms

motherly

parental

mother

👩‍🍼

paternal

enate

motherlike

uncle

enatic

grandchild

fatherly

on the mother’s side

uterine

mumsy

maternity

mothers

maternalistic

Translations

maternel

materno

👩‍🍼

mütterlich

maternal

materno

👩‍🍼

μητρικός

materno

maternus

maternal

أمي

moederlijk

maternal

أمومي

Pronounced as (IPA)

/məˈtɜːnəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: maternal

Cognate with French: maternel

Cognate with Italian: maternale

Cognate with Portuguese: maternal

Cognate with Spanish: maternal

In summary

PIE word
*méh₂tēr
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English maternal, maternall, from Middle French maternel (“maternal”) (modern French maternel (“maternal; native”)), or from its etymon Late Latin māternālis (“maternal”), from Latin māternus (“maternal; related to the mother or her side of the family”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). Māternus is derived from māter (“mother”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (“mother”)) + -rnus (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is cognate with Italian maternale, materno, Portuguese maternal, materno, Spanish maternal, materno.
The noun is derived from the adjective.

Sentences

John Held Jr . 's maternal grandfather , James Evans , was an English convert to Mormonism .