paternal

English

Alternative forms

• paternall (obsolete)

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”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: pə-tû(r)'nəl, IPA^(key): /pəˈtɜː(ɹ)nəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl

Adjective

paternal (comparative more paternal, superlative most paternal)

1. Of or pertaining to one's father, his genes, his relatives, or his side of a family.

   paternal grandfather

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Different Views of Youth and Age”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 93:

     It was with a natural touch of pride that Norbourne Courtenaye paced his paternal hall, while waiting for his uncle, with whom he was going to ride.

   • 1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xiii:

     The eldest son was usually given the name of his paternal grandfather, later children those of other relatives.

2. Fatherly; behaving as or characteristic of a father.
3. Received or inherited from one's father.
   • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Second Epode of Horace”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 477:

     Thus, ere the ſeeds of vice were ſown, / Liv'd men in better ages born, / Who plow'd with oxen of their own / Their ſmall paternal field of corn.

4. Acting as a father.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Antonyms

• maternal – mother

Coordinate terms

• avuncular – uncle
• maternal – mother
• materteral – aunt

Derived terms

• homopaternal
• paternal aunt
• paternal cousin
• paternal custody
• paternal grandchild
• paternal grandfather
• paternal grandmother
• paternal half aunt
• paternal half-uncle
• paternalism
• paternalistic
• paternally
• paternal orphan
• paternal uncle

Translations

of or pertaining to one's father

Arabic: أَبَوِيّ (ʔabawiyy) Armenian: հայրական (hy) (hayrakan), հայրենի (hy) (hayreni) Belarusian: ба́цькаўскі (bácʹkaŭski), бацько́ўскі (bacʹkóŭski), ба́цькаў (bácʹkaŭ), айцо́ўскі (ajcóŭski) Bulgarian: ба́щин (bg) (báštin), ба́щински (bg) (báštinski) Catalan: patern (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 父親的 / 父亲的 (zh) (fùqin de), 父系 (zh) (fùxì), 母系 (zh) (mǔxì) Czech: otcovský (cs) m Danish: faderlig Dutch: vaderlijk (nl) Finnish: isänpuoleinen French: paternel (fr) German: väterlich (de) Greek: πατρικός (el) (patrikós) Ancient: πατρικός (patrikós) Hindi: पैतृक (hi) (paitŕk) Hungarian: apai (hu), atyai (hu) Italian: paterno (it) Japanese: 父性 (ja) (ふせい, fusei), 父方の (ja) (ちちかたの, chichikata no) Latin: paternālis, paternus Lithuanian: tėvinis Macedonian: татковски (tatkovski) Norwegian: Bokmål: faderlig Old English: fæderen Ottoman Turkish: پدری (pederî) Persian: پدری (fa) (pedari) Polish: ojcowski (pl) Portuguese: paterno (pt) Romanian: patern (ro) Russian: отцо́вский (ru) (otcóvskij), оте́ческий (ru) (otéčeskij) Scottish Gaelic: taobh athar Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: о̏чӣнскӣ, о̀чев Roman: ȍčīnskī (sh), òčev (sh) Slovak: otcovský Slovene: očetovski Spanish: paterno (es) Swedish: faderlig (sv) Tajik: падарӣ (padari) Ukrainian: ба́тьківський (uk) (bátʹkivsʹkyj), оте́цький (otécʹkyj), ба́тьків (uk) (bátʹkiv), отце́вий (otcévyj)

fatherly; behaving as or characteristic of a father

Arabic: أَبَوِيّ (ʔabawiyy) Armenian: հայրական (hy) (hayrakan) Belarusian: ба́цькаўскі (bácʹkaŭski), бацько́ўскі (bacʹkóŭski), айцо́ўскі (ajcóŭski) Bulgarian: ба́щински (bg) (báštinski) Czech: otcovský (cs) Danish: faderlig, alfaderlig (stronger, e.g. behaviour towards a colony) Dutch: vaderlijk (nl) Finnish: isällinen (fi) French: paternel (fr) Greek: πατρικός (el) (patrikós) Hungarian: atyai (hu) Latin: paternus Lithuanian: tėviškas Macedonian: татковски (tatkovski) Ottoman Turkish: پدری (pederî) Persian: پدرانه (fa) (pedarâne) Polish: ojcowski (pl) Portuguese: paterno (pt) Russian: отцо́вский (ru) (otcóvskij), оте́ческий (ru) (otéčeskij) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: о̏чӣнскӣ Roman: ȍčīnskī (sh) Slovak: otcovský Slovene: očetovski Spanish: paternal (es) Tajik: падарона (tg) (padarona) Turkish: babacan (tr), pederane (tr) Ukrainian: ба́тьківський (uk) (bátʹkivsʹkyj), оте́цький (otécʹkyj), отце́вий (otcévyj)

received or inherited from one's father

Armenian: հայրական (hy) (hayrakan), հայրենի (hy) (hayreni) Bulgarian: ба́щин (bg) (báštin) Czech: otcovský (cs) Dutch: van vaderskant, paternaal (nl) Finnish: isänpuoleinen French: paternel (fr) Greek: πατρικός (el) (patrikós) Hungarian: apai (hu), atyai (hu) Latin: paternus Polish: po mieczu (pl) Portuguese: paterno (pt) Russian: отцо́вский (ru) (otcóvskij) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: о̏чӣнскӣ Roman: ȍčīnskī (sh) Slovak: otcovský Turkish: babacan (tr)

acting as a father

Danish: faderlig Dutch: vaderlijk (nl) Finnish: isän tekemä Greek: πατρικός (el) (patrikós) Hungarian: apai (hu), atyai (hu) Russian: отцо́вский (ru) (otcóvskij) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: ȍčīnskī (sh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Icelandic: (please verify) föðurlegur (is), (please verify) föður- Italian: (please verify) paterno (it) m Korean: (please verify) 아버지 (ko) (abeoji)

Anagrams

• parental, prenatal

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin paternālis. Compare the descended term paternel.

Adjective

paternal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular paternale)

1. paternal

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	paternaus	paternale	paternal
	oblique	paternal			paternale	paternal
plural	subject	paternal	paternales		paternal
	oblique	paternaus			paternales	paternal

Descendants

• English: paternal

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French paternel. By surface analysis, patern +‎ -al.

Adjective

paternal m or n (feminine singular paternală, masculine plural paternali, feminine and neuter plural paternale)

1. fatherly

Declension

Declension of paternal

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	paternal		paternală		paternali	paternale
	definite	paternalul		paternala		paternalii	paternalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	paternal		paternale		paternali	paternale
	definite	paternalului		paternalei		paternalilor	paternalelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pateɾˈnal/ [pa.t̪eɾˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pa‧ter‧nal

Adjective

paternal m or f (masculine and feminine plural paternales)

1. paternal, fatherly

Derived terms

• paternalmente

Further reading

• “paternal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024