maternal

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /məˈtɝnəl/ UK /məˈtɜːnəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #14044

Meanings

1

adj
Like a mother; caring and protective in the way a mother is.

His helplessness brought out her maternal instincts.
2

adj
Related to or coming from your mother's side of the family.

Toby is my maternal uncle.
3

adj
Coming from the mother during pregnancy, rather than the baby.

The test checks for maternal antibodies passed to the baby.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · like a mother; caring and... parental

Word family

Forms maternally

Derived forms allomaternalantimaternalbimaternalfeto-maternalfetomaternalfoetomaternalgrandmaternalmaternalisationmaternalismmaternalistmaternalisticmaternalization

Related forms maternity

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

maternal grandmother
the mother of someone's mother

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Maternal entered English in the late Middle Ages and ultimately derives from Latin mater, “mother.” It is related at a deeper level to English mother, Dutch moeder, and German Mutter.

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, ma…

maternal Middle English maternel Middle French māternālis la-lat māternus Latin *méh₂tēr Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# maternal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /məˈtɝnəl/
**IPA (UK):** /məˈtɜːnəl/
**Frequency rank:** 14044

## Meanings
1. Like a mother; caring and protective in the way a mother is.
2. Related to or coming from your mother's side of the family.
3. Coming from the mother during pregnancy, rather than the baby.

## Examples
- His helplessness brought out her maternal instincts.
- Toby is my maternal uncle.
- The test checks for maternal antibodies passed to the baby.

## Derived Forms
- allomaternal
- antimaternal
- bimaternal
- feto-maternal
- fetomaternal
- foetomaternal
- grandmaternal
- maternalisation
- maternalism
- maternalist
- maternalistic
- maternalization

## Related Forms
- maternity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: maternal
- Root: maternel
- Root: māternālis
- Root: māternus
- Root: *méh₂tēr

## 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, ma…

## AI Etymology
For maternal, 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). In present-day use, it can mean like a mother; caring and protective in the way a mother is, or related to or coming from your mother's side of the family. Derived formations include allomaternal, antimaternal, bimaternal, feto-maternal, and fetomaternal.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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