Meanings
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1
adj
Like a mother; caring and protective in the way a mother is.
His helplessness brought out her maternal instincts.
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2
adj
Related to or coming from your mother's side of the family.
Toby is my maternal uncle.
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3
adj
Coming from the mother during pregnancy, rather than the baby.
The test checks for maternal antibodies passed to the baby.
Thesaurus
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…