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maternal

[muh-tur-nl]

adjective

of, pertaining to, having the qualities of, or befitting a mother: maternal instincts.

related through a mother: his maternal aunt.

derived from a mother: maternal genes.

Origin:
1475–85; < Medieval Latin māternālis, equivalent to Latin mātern(us) (māter mother + -nus adj. suffix) + -ālis -al¹

Related forms

ma·ter·nal·ism, noun

ma·ter·nal·is·tic, adjective

ma·ter·nal·ly, adverb

non·ma·ter·nal, adjective

non·ma·ter·nal·ly, adverb

EXPAND

qua·si-ma·ter·nal, adjective

qua·si-ma·ter·nal·ly, adverb

un·ma·ter·nal, adjective

un·ma·ter·nal·ly, adverb

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To maternal

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Maternal is always a great word to know.

So is zedonk. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Example Sentences

In mentioning organizations working on maternal health, there are others that also deserve a shout-out.

Yet the vast amount of the scholarship on human parenting focuses on maternal behavior.

The south still has one of the world's highest maternal mortality and infant mortality rates.

EXPAND

In mentioning organizations working on maternal health, there are others that also deserve a shout-out.

Yet the vast amount of the scholarship on human parenting focuses on maternal behavior.

The south still has one of the world's highest maternal mortality and infant mortality rates.

The immature eggs from newborn mice, however, have not yet been given a maternal stamp.

The second group keep their maternal accents, whereas the first group find it much easier and more natural to translate.

Even if the crab is a male, it takes on the maternal role.

My parents met at my maternal grandfather's bowling center, where my dad competed.

Some readers have been asking about maternal mortality figures, so let me explain them a bit.

Ask the job candidate to state his or her maternal grandmother's maiden name.

Perhaps that is to ensure maternal care of their own brood.

In parthenogenesis, an unfertilized egg develops into an embryo using its two sets of maternal chromosomes.

Some lizards and many other animals reproduce with only maternal genes, but mammals don't.

And there was no discernible difference between the groups in maternal satisfaction or the amount of fetal distress.

It is likely to have more to do with your adjunct status and all the problems that go with that, than your maternal status.

The country has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world.

The young mature quickly and require little maternal care.

There is such a thing as maternal depletion syndrome.

Research on wild horses has connected offspring survival to maternal sociality.

Maternal genes were more active in the embryo's brain, but paternal genes became more active in the adult.

She invokes her maternal instinct, as she is protecting her baby from the dreadful paparazzi.

Nepal ranks low in the league tables on maternal health, female literacy and the role of women in public life.

The bonds between maternal or paternal sisters are particularly close.

Smarter maternal decisions prevent leading causes of mortality.

In humans, oxytocin induces childbirth and lactation, and plays a key role in maternal bonding.

Maternal guilt is not the only impediment to employment.

Even with modern medicine, which greatly lowered the maternal death rate, pregnancy itself takes a huge toll on a woman.

And there is evidence that other triggers, such as maternal viral infections, may play a role.

In several cases genetic tests showed that a female bat and her maternal half-aunt also were half sisters on their father's side.

The scientists found evidence of a number of diseases that are related to maternal malnutrition and poor prenatal care.

The effects of maternal care are so strong that they seem to outweigh genetic predispositions.

Its maternal mortality rate may be the highest in the world.

To me it's a perfectly natural example of maternal care and affection to a kitten who's dreaming.

So too on my maternal side, one uncle was monagamous, the other was not.

It provides proof that two people are related if they share the same maternal line, even if they're generations apart.

Gorky's maternal grandfather, a priest, is said to have been nailed to the door of his church.

The communities are divided into several maternal lineages, or matrilines, all of which are ranked.

Men's responses can be linked with maternal and child outcomes, and some of men's responses should be of interest in themselves.

But touch is not the only source of maternal comfort.

Nature abounds with mothers that defy the standard maternal script in a raft of macabre ways.

Now scientists have identified the house cat's maternal ancestors and traced them back to.

Wilson and his colleagues determined that the maternal lineages of everyone alive today converge on a single ancient woman.

Despite advances, scientists remain unable to surmount a critical barrier to increased fertility: maternal age.

The work confirms previous indications of the six maternal lineages, he said.

The biggest surprise for me has been the differences in the maternal behavior of lions and cheetahs.

Donor nations are giving about twice what they used to toward maternal and child health.

In some parts of the world, women die at younger ages than men due to maternal mortality.

On evolutionary biology grounds, microchimerism seems more likely than maternal immune response.

Such survival discrepancies seem to drive maternal finches to select whether sons or daughters hatch first.

He read our chapters on maternal health and offered excellent suggestions.

My maternal grandmother was a maid and then a cook.

She took particular care to match the foursomes not only for size, weight and activity level but also for level of maternal care.

Maybe expectant mother ought to be given longer maternal leaves.

Invitations are extended to descendants down both the paternal and maternal lines, and a larger.

Maternal depletion syndrome comes from the depletion of energy stores and micronutrients.

Exposure to maternal speech sounds in the muffled confines of the womb enables.

Even with the three in one trinity the female or maternal is missing.

Also children with severe birth defects, children borne after maternal accidents etc.

She was the first born of my maternal grandparents.

Maternal and paternal lineages in cross-breeding bovine species.

In fact, the worse a teen mom did on the cognitive challenges, the lower she scored on the maternal sensitivity scale.

The brain is limited in size at birth by the size of the maternal pelvis.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

maternal (məˈtɜːn^əl)

—*adj*
1.	of, relating to, derived from, or characteristic of a mother
2.	related through the mother's side of the family: his maternal uncle

[C15: from Medieval Latin māternālis, from Latin māternus, from māter mother]

ma'ternalism

—n

maternal'istic

—*adj*

ma'ternally

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

maternal

late 15c., from O.Fr. maternel (14c.), from V.L. *maternalis, from L. maternus "maternal, of a mother," from mater "mother" (see mother).

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

maternal ma·ter·nal (mə-tûr'nəl)
adj.

Relating to or characteristic of a mother.
Inherited from one's mother.

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"Of all the stereotypes of parenthood, one of the most destructive is the assumption that all mothers are cut out for Donna Reed kind of maternal love and that fathers are biologically incapable of it."

-Victoria Secunda

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