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maternal
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Adjective maternal has 4 senses
- maternal(a = adj.all) Array - characteristic of a mother; "warm maternal affection for her guest" Derived form noun maternity3
- maternal(a = adj.pert) Array - relating to or derived from one's mother; "maternal genes"
- maternal(a = adj.all) parental, paternal - relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent; "parental guidance"
- maternal(s = adj.all) enate, enatic - related on the mother's side; "my maternal grandmother"
Antonym: paternal
OXFORD DICTIONARY
maternal, adj.
1 of or like a mother.
2 motherly.
3 related through the mother (maternal uncle).
4 of the mother in pregnancy and childbirth.
1 of or like a mother.
2 motherly.
3 related through the mother (maternal uncle).
4 of the mother in pregnancy and childbirth.
Derivative
maternalism n. maternalistic adj. maternally adv.
Etymology
ME f. OF maternel or L maternus f. mater mother
THESAURUS
maternal
adoring, affectionate, ancestorial, ancestral, caring, conjugal, demonstrative, devoted, doting, faithful, fatherlike, fatherly, filial, fond, grandfatherly, grandmotherly, grandparental, husbandly, kind, kindly, languishing, lovelorn, lovesick, lovesome, loving, maternalistic, melting, mother, motherlike, motherly, nurturing, parent, parental, paternal, patriarchal, romantic, sentimental, soft, tender, understanding, uxorious, warm, wifelyROGET THESAURUS
maternal
Paternity
N paternity, parentage, consanguinity, parent, father, sire, dad, papa, paterfamilias, abba, genitor, progenitor, procreator, ancestor, grandsire, grandfather, great- grandfather, fathership, fatherhood, mabap, house, stem, trunk, tree, stock, stirps, pedigree, lineage, line, family, tribe, sept, race, clan, genealogy, descent, extraction, birth, ancestry, forefathers, forbears, patriarchs, motherhood, maternity, mother, dam, mamma, materfamilias, grandmother, paternal, parental, maternal, family, ancestral, linear, patriarchal, avi numerantur avorum, happy he with such a mother, hombre bueno no le busquen abolengo, philosophia stemma non inspicit.Benevolence
N benevolence, Christian charity, God's love, God's grace, good will, philanthropy, unselfishness, good nature, good feeling, good wishes, kindness, kindliness, loving-kindness, benignity, brotherly love, charity, humanity, fellow-feeling, sympathy, goodness of heart, warmth of heart, bonhomie, kind-heartedness, amiability, milk of human kindness, tenderness, love, friendship, toleration, consideration, generosity, mercy, charitableness, bounty, almsgiving, good works, beneficence, the luxury of doing good, acts of kindness, a good turn, good offices, kind offices good treatment, kind treatment, good Samaritan, sympathizer, bon enfant, altruist, benevolent, kind, kindly, well-meaning, amiable, obliging, accommodating, indulgent, gracious, complacent, good-humored, warm-hearted, kind-hearted, tender-hearted, large-hearted, broad- hearted, merciful, charitable, beneficent, humane, benignant, bounteous, bountiful, good-natured, well-natured, spleenless, sympathizing, sympathetic, complaisant, well-meant, well-intentioned, fatherly, motherly, brotherly, sisterly, paternal, maternal, fraternal, sororal, friendly, with a good intention, with the best intentions, Int, Godspeed!, much good may it do!, act a charity sometimes, a tender heart, a will inflexible, de mortuis nil nisi bonum, say only good things about the dead, don't speak ill of the dead, kind words are more than coronets, quando amigo pide no hay manana, the social smile, the sympathetic tear.
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