Definition of Maternal

1. Adjective. Characteristic of a mother. "Warm maternal affection for her guest"


2. Adjective. Relating to or derived from one's mother. "Maternal genes"
Partainyms: Mother

3. Adjective. Relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent. "Parental guidance"
Exact synonyms: Parental, Paternal
Antonyms: Filial
Derivative terms: Parent

4. Adjective. Related on the mother's side. "My maternal grandmother"
Exact synonyms: Enate, Enatic
Similar to: Related

Definition of Maternal

1. a. Of or pertaining to a mother; becoming to a mother; motherly; as, maternal love; maternal tenderness.

Definition of Maternal

1. Adjective. Of or pertaining to a mother; having the characteristics of a mother, motherly. ¹

2. Adjective. Related through the mother, or her side of the family. ¹

3. Adjective. (anatomy medicine) Derived from the mother as opposed to the foetus during pregnancy. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Maternal

1. pertaining to a mother [adj]

Medical Definition of Maternal

1. Relating to or derived from the mother. Origin: L. Maternus, fr. Mater, mother (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Maternal

materialness
materialnesses
materials
materials recovery facility
materials testing
materiarian
materiarians
materiated
materiation
materiel
materiels
materies morbi
materiomics
materious
maternal (current term)
maternal(p)
maternal-child health centres
maternal-child nursing
maternal-death
maternal-foetal exchange
maternal-infant bonding
maternal age 35 and over
maternal antibody
maternal aunt
maternal aunts
maternal behaviour
maternal cotyledon
maternal cousin
maternal cousins

Literary usage of Maternal

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (1903)
"The maternal and fetal adrenals have also been shown to be sensitive ... There are no studies of the response of maternal and fetal adrenals to the same ..."

2. A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story by Andrei Maylunas (2005)
"Significant statistical association was found in relation to maternal age, ... A spontaneous decrease in maternal drinking and smoking often occurs during ..."

3. The Physical Basis of Heredity by Thomas Hunt Morgan (1919)
"CHAPTER XVIII maternal INHERITANCE THEEE is a kind of inheritance shown by eggs and embryos, sometimes called maternal inheritance, that is not the same as ..."

4. Report of the Annual Meeting (1901)
"maternal Uncle in Torres Straits, By WH R, RIVERS, MD In the western tribes of Torres Straits descent is at the present time strictly paternal, ..."

5. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1891)
"maternal IMPRESSION FOLLOWED BY THE PRODUCTION OF A ... An interesting example of the direct association of maternal impression and the production of ..."

6. Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion & Disease Prevention by DIANE Publishing Company (2004)
"Pregnancy complications and medical complications during pregnancy contribute to maternal, fetal, and neonatal mortality. Another issue related to maternal ..."

7. The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas by Edvard Westermarck (1908)
"That the maternal instinct is in some degree love of the helpless is obvious from the fact that, among those of the lower animals which are not gregarious, ..."

Other Resources:

Search for Maternal on Dictionary.com!Search for Maternal on Thesaurus.com!Search for Maternal on Google!Search for Maternal on Wikipedia!

Search