paternal
adjective
pa·ter·nal
| \ pə-ˈtər-nᵊl
\
\
Definition of paternal
1a
: 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
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Other Words from paternal
paternally
\ pə-ˈtər-nᵊl-ē
\
adverb
\
adverb
Examples of paternal in a Sentence
He did not neglect his paternal responsibilities after the divorce.
Recent Examples on the Web
But his comments reflect a very real problem in Kenya, where many children go through life without any paternal assistance. — Farai Sevenzo And Kagweni Micheni, CNN, "He revealed a lawmaker's affair at his funeral. Now he's set up a hotline to out deadbeat politician dads," 19 Aug. 2019 Forcing changes in cultural norms Our data doesn’t tell us why the paternal policies seem to help close the gender gap. — Laurie Derose, The Conversation, "Gender equality at home takes a hit when children arrive," 8 Aug. 2019 Former teen heroes reunite after the death of their adoptive father, a billionaire who trained them to hone their superpowers against evil but failed to ground them with any sort of paternal affection. — Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, "Superheroes behaving badly: 12 crusading TV series target mature audiences," 4 Aug. 2019 Simon Cowell also chimed in, to give her some paternal advice. — Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY, "'AGT': Sophie Pecora, 15, wins Golden Buzzer from Brad Paisley with personal bullying song," 10 July 2019 He is named Henry after many on his father’s side including his dear dad and his paternal grandfather. — Joelle Goldstein, PEOPLE.com, "Jenna Bush Hager Celebrates Leaving the House 10 Days After Welcoming Son Hal: 'Life Is Wilder'," 13 Aug. 2019 For years, the rumor existed that Adolf Hitler's paternal grandfather was Jewish, but the claim went unsubstantiated. — Fox News, "Hitler's secret history revealed: Study suggests Nazi leader's grandfather was Jewish," 6 Aug. 2019 In a separate incident, a drunken Nazi officer beat Dr. Isselbacher’s paternal grandfather to death. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, "Dr. Kurt Isselbacher, world leader in gastroenterology and former head of MGH Cancer Center, dies at 93," 24 July 2019 In the article O’Rourke explained that his paternal great-great-great grandfather owned two enslaved Black people, Rosa and Eliza, in the 1850s. — Kynala Phillips, Essence, "Beto O’Rourke Shares He Is The Descendant Of Slave Owners," 15 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'paternal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for paternal
paternal
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of paternal
: of or relating to a father
: related through the father
See the full definition for paternal in the English Language Learners Dictionary
paternal
adjective
pa·ter·nal
| \ pə-ˈtər-nᵊl
\
\
Kids Definition of paternal
1
: of or like that of a father : fatherly
“I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff,” snapped Karkaroff, his warmly paternal air vanishing …— J. K. Rowling, Goblet of Fire
2
: related through the father
my paternal cousins
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