paternal

adjective

pa·​ter·​nal pə-ˈtər-nᵊl 

1

a

: of or relating to a father

offered his children some paternal advice

paternal responsibilities

b

: like that of a father

paternal benevolence

2

: received or inherited from one's male parent

lived and worked on his paternal farm

3

: related through one's father

paternal grandfather

paternally

pə-ˈtər-nᵊl-ē 

adverb

Examples of paternal in a Sentence

He did not neglect his paternal responsibilities after the divorce.

Recent Examples on the Web

Things don’t go too well at first, as Shrek tests out his paternal skills on Arthur while trying to convince him to take over as king. —Skyler Trepel September 1, EW.com, 1 Sep. 2025

On his paternal side, Carlo was also related to Paolo Ruffini, who was one of the most famous mathematicians in Italy, according to the outlet. —Gabrielle Rockson, People.com, 1 Sep. 2025

Despite that, Hardy assumed paternal responsibility much to the disapproval of Tonette’s family, who burned a cross on his family’s lawn. —Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 29 Aug. 2025

On the paternal side, though, there was no such pattern. —Ari Daniel, NPR, 16 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin paternalis, from Latin paternus paternal, from pater

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for paternal

• diurnal
• eternal
• external
• fraternal
• infernal
• internal
• maternal
• nocturnal
• pimpernel
• colonel
• journal
• kernel

Kids Definition

paternal

adjective

pa·​ter·​nal pə-ˈtərn-ᵊl 

1

: fatherly

paternal advice

2

: received or inherited from one's father

3

: related through the father

a paternal grandfather

paternally

-ᵊl-ē 

adverb

Etymology

from Latin paternalis "fatherly," from earlier paternus (same meaning), from pater "father" — related to padre, patron, pattern