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   paternal

   /pəˈtəːnl/

   adjective

   • 1. of or appropriate to a father: "he reasserted his paternal authority" Similar on one's father's sidepatrilinealpatrimonialOpposite maternal
   • ▪ showing a kindness and care associated with a father; fatherly: "my elders in the newsroom kept a paternal eye on me" Similar fatherlyfatherlikepatriarchalprotectivevigilantconcernedsolicitouskindlywarmfriendlybenevolentcompassionatesympathetic
   • 2. related through the father: "his father and paternal grandfather were porcelain painters"

   Word Origin late Middle English: from late Latin paternalis, from Latin paternus ‘fatherly, belonging to a father’, from pater ‘father’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. paternally adverb

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • P

     3

   • A

     1

   • T

     1

   • E

     1

   • R

     1

   • N

     1

   • A

     1

   • L

     1

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