maternal

4 definitions found

maternal - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Maternal \Ma*ter"nal\, a. [F. maternel, L. maternus, fr. mater
     mother. See Mother.]
     Of or pertaining to a mother; becoming to a mother; motherly;
     as, maternal love; maternal tenderness.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: See Motherly.
          [1913 Webster]

maternal - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  maternal
      adj 1: characteristic of a mother; "warm maternal affection for
             her guest"- Dorothy Sayers [ant: paternal]
      2: relating to or derived from one's mother; "maternal genes"
      3: relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent;
         "parental guidance" [syn: parental, maternal, paternal]
         [ant: filial]
      4: related on the mother's side; "my maternal grandmother" [syn:
         enate, enatic, maternal(p)]

maternal - Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) :

  MATERNAL. That which belongs to, or comes from the mother: as, maternal 
  authority, maternal relation, maternal estate, maternal line. Vide Line. 
  
  

maternal - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  43 Moby Thesaurus words for "maternal":
     adoring, affectionate, ancestorial, ancestral, caring, conjugal,
     demonstrative, devoted, doting, faithful, fatherlike, fatherly,
     filial, fond, grandfatherly, grandmotherly, grandparental,
     husbandly, kind, kindly, languishing, lovelorn, lovesick, lovesome,
     loving, maternalistic, melting, mother, motherlike, motherly,
     nurturing, parent, parental, paternal, patriarchal, romantic,
     sentimental, soft, tender, understanding, uxorious, warm, wifely