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

Regarding her principles and convictions as a filmmaker, Brennand credits her paternal grandfather for giving her a strong ethical foundation. —Lauren Coates, Variety, 16 May 2025

One of Combs’ son’s placed his arm around his paternal grandmother during some of the testimony. —Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 14 May 2025

His paternal grandfather, also named Carl Hiaasen, moved from North Dakota to Florida in 1922 and helped found one of the first law firms in Broward County; his father became a lawyer too. —Amy Weiss-Meyer, The Atlantic, 8 May 2025

In addition to a four-time world F1 champion father, Verstappen’s newborn daughter, Lily, has a three-time world champion maternal grandfather (Nelson Piquet) and a longtime F1 driver as a paternal grandfather (Jos Verstappen). —David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 6 May 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