Standard Lemma guide

maternal

adj · noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /məˈtɜːnəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: mə-tûr'nəl
  • General-American: /məˈtɝnəl/
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)nəl
  • CMU ARPABET: M AH0 T ER1 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • His weakness seemed to bring out her maternal instincts.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: fatherly, paternal

2

adj

Meaning 2

Related through the mother, or her side of the family.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Toby is my maternal uncle.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: paternal

3

adj

Meaning 3

Derived from the mother as opposed to the foetus during pregnancy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: fetal, foetal

4

noun

Meaning 4

A mother.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated, informal, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A person related through the mother, or her side of the family; a maternal relative.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective

Meaning 6

relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • parental guidance

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: parental, paternal

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective

Meaning 7

characteristic of a mother- Dorothy Sayers

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • warm maternal affection for her guest

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: paternal

8

adjective

Meaning 8

relating to or derived from one's mother

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • maternal genes

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

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, materno, Spanish maternal, materno. The noun is derived from the adjective.

Across languages

Translations

81 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: أُمِّيّ (ʔummiyy) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Arabic: أُمُومِيّ (ʔumūmiyy) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Armenian: մայրական (mayrakan) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Belarusian: мацяры́нскі (macjarýnski) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Belarusian: ма́тчынскі (mátčynski) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Bulgarian: ма́йчински (májčinski) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Bulgarian: ма́йчин (májčin) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Catalan: maternal — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Chinese Mandarin: 母親的 /母亲的 (mǔqīn de) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Czech: mateřský — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Dutch: moederlijk — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Estonian: emalik — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Estonian: emapoolne — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Finnish: äidillinen — of or pertaining to a mother
  • French: maternel — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Galician: maternal — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Galician: materno — of or pertaining to a mother
  • German: mütterlich — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Greek: μητρικός (mitrikós) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Hebrew: אִמָּהִי (imahi) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Hungarian: anyai — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Irish: máthartha — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Irish: máithriúil — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Italian: materno — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Japanese: 母性 (bosei) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Latin: māternālis — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Latin: māternus — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Lithuanian: motiniškas — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Macedonian: мајчински (majčinski) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Persian: مادرانه (mâdarâne) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Plautdietsch: muttalich — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Polish: macierzyński — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Polish: matczyny — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Portuguese: maternal — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Romanian: matern — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Russian: матери́нский (materínskij) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Scottish Gaelic: màthaireil — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Serbo-Croatian: ма̀те̄ри́њӣ — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Serbo-Croatian: ма̏терӣнскӣ — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Serbo-Croatian: màtērinjī — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȁterīnskī — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Slovak: materský — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Slovene: materinski — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Slovene: materin — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Spanish: maternal — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Spanish: materno — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Tajik: модарона (modarona) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Ukrainian: матери́нський (materýnsʹkyj) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Ukrainian: ма́терній (máternij) — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Welsh: mamol — of or pertaining to a mother
  • Armenian: մոր կողմից (mor koġmicʻ) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Bulgarian: по ма́йка (po májka) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Bulgarian: от ма́йчина стана́ (ot májčina staná) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Catalan: matern — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Chinese Mandarin: 母系 (mǔxì) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Dutch: langs moeders kant — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Finnish: äidinpuoleinen — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • French: maternel — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • German: mütterlich — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Greek: εκ μητρός (ek mitrós) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Greek: από την πλευρά της μητέρας (apó tin plevrá tis mitéras) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Hebrew: אִמָּהִי — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Hungarian: anyai — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Italian: materno — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Japanese: 母系の (bokei no) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Japanese: 母方の (hahakata no) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Latin: māternus — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Persian: مادری (mâdari) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Portuguese: materno — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Romanian: matern — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Russian: с матери́нской стороны́ (s materínskoj storoný) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Scottish Gaelic: taobh màthar — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Scottish Gaelic: -màthar — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Serbo-Croatian: ма̀те̄ри́њӣ — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Serbo-Croatian: màtērinjī — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Spanish: maternal — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Spanish: materno — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Tajik: модарӣ (modari) — related through the mother, or her side of the family
  • Hungarian: anyai — derived from the mother as opposed to the foetus during pregnancy
  • Serbo-Croatian: ма̀те̄рњӣ — derived from the mother as opposed to the foetus during pregnancy
  • Serbo-Croatian: màtērnjī — derived from the mother as opposed to the foetus during pregnancy
Real reading context

maternal in complete knowledge articles