paternal

1. Of or pertaining to one's father, his genes, his relatives, or his side of a family.
2. Fatherly; behaving as or characteristic of a father.
3. Received or inherited from one's father.
4. Acting as a father.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pəˈtɜː(ɹ)nəl/

Etymology

From Old French paternal (“of a father”) (12c.), a learned borrowing from Vulgar Latin paternālis (“paternal”), from Classical Latin paternus (“of or pertaining to a father, paternal”), from pater (“father”).

Synonyms

fatherly

parental

ancestral

maternal

agnate

aunt

agnatic

parents’

paternalistic

one’s father

patrimonial

patronymic

uncle

dadlike

on the spear side

hereditary

male line

motherly

fatherlike

Translations

paternel

πατρικός

väterlich

vaderlijk

paterno

paternal

paterno

paterno

paternus

ojcowski

أبوي

väterlicherseits

patern

paternal

dei genitori