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

In other recent social media posts, the 12-year-old mourned the recent loss of his paternal grandmother. —Emily Palmer, Peoplemag, 3 Apr. 2024

At the time, Balti was just a few years shy of 39, the age at which one of her paternal aunts had died from an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer. —Margaux Anbouba, Vogue, 19 Mar. 2024

February 11, 2024 at 5:06 a.m. Listen to this article Afton artist John Kaul remembers sending the first letters of his life to his paternal grandmother, Eva Kaul, in Faribault. —Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 11 Feb. 2024

In the next room, through an interpreter, Andrea explains in Spanish that her paternal grandmother never received a clinical diagnosis but was completely blind by 30 years old. —Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 1 Apr. 2024

And Hank was buried on top of his paternal uncle, who died at age 26 in a car accident. —Gina Kolata Kim Raff, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024

Born in Harbin, China, to dad Zhenning and mom Zheng, the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star spent the first four years of his life with his paternal grandparents in his hometown while his parents pursued graduate degrees in Canada. —Jacqueline Weiss, Peoplemag, 25 Mar. 2024

Everett is not the first to reimagine Huck and Jim’s coupling, which other artists have interpreted as romantic or paternal. —Maya Binyam, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024

This reverence stemmed from ancestral pride; Mencken’s paternal grandfather came from Saxony. —Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2024

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

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