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maternal

adj
/məˈtɜːnəl/UK/məˈtɝnəl/US

Etymology

PIE word *méh₂tēr The adjective is derived from Late Middle English maternal, maternall, from Middle French maternel (“maternal”) (modern French maternel (“maternal; native”)), or from its etymon Late Latin māternālis (“maternal”), from Latin māternus (“maternal; related to the mother or her side of the family”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). Māternus is derived from māter (“mother”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (“mother”)) + -rnus (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is cognate with Italian maternale, materno, Portuguese maternal, materno, Spanish maternal, materno. The noun is derived from the adjective.

  1. derived from *méh₂tēr✻ — “mother”
  2. derived from māternus — “maternal; related to the mother or her side of the family”
  3. derived from māternālis — “maternal”
  4. derived from maternel — “maternal”
  5. inherited from maternal

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to a mother

    Of or pertaining to a mother; having the characteristics of a mother; motherly.

    • His weakness seemed to bring out her maternal instincts.
    • However, the Hebrew (I ſay) is the moſt antient and maternall Language; for Adam uſed it, and all men before the Flood, as is manifeſt from the Scripture, and Fathers.
    • If a dictionary be a ſelection, rather than a collection, of the words in our maternall Englyſhe; a dictionary cannot afford a deciſive proof of the non-exiſtence of a word, in ſome other book, which the lexicographer may have never read.

  2. Related through the mother, or her side of the family.

    • Toby is my maternal uncle.

  3. Derived from the mother as opposed to the foetus during pregnancy.

  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. A mother.

    2. A person related through the mother, or her side of the family

      A person related through the mother, or her side of the family; a maternal relative.

      • My maternals were Huguenots on the lamb from the Duque de Guise and his cronies.

The neighborhood

Derived

allomaternal, antimaternal, bimaternal, direct maternal death, feto-maternal, fetomaternal, foetomaternal, grandmaternal, indirect maternal death, maternal aunt, maternal cousin, maternal custody, maternal death, maternal effect, maternal grandchild, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, maternal half aunt, maternal half-uncle, maternal impression, maternalisation, maternalism, maternalist, maternalistic, maternalization, maternalize, maternally, maternalness, maternal orphan, maternal uncle, maternal wall, nonmaternal, prematernal, transmaternal, ultramaternal, unmaternal

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at maternal. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01maternal02foetus03fetus04mature05terms06term07restriction08dna09double

A definitional loop anchored at maternal. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at maternal

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA