maternal
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /məˈtɜːnəl/
enpr: mə-tûr'nəl
ipa: /məˈtɝnəl/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl
Forms: form: more maternal
form: most maternal
form: maternall
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.
Senses: examples: text: His weakness seemed to bring out her maternal instincts.
text: However, the Hebrew (I ſay) is the moſt antient and maternall Language; for Adam uſed it, and all men before the Flood, as is manifeſt from the Scripture, and Fathers.
ref: 1650, Edward Leigh, “To the Reverend, Pious, and Learned Assembly of Divines, Convened at Westminster: And to All Such as are Studious of Knowledge in the Originall Text of the New Testament. [The Epistle Dedicatory]”, in Critica Sacra in Two Parts: The First Containing Observations on All the Radices, or Primitive Hebrevv Words of the Old Testament, in Order Alphabetical. […] The Second Philologicall and Theologicall Observations upon All the Greek Words of the New Testament, in Order Alphabetical. […], 3rd edition, London: Printed by Abraham Miller and Roger Daniel for Thomas Underhill […], →OCLC:
text: If a dictionary be a ſelection, rather than a collection, of the words in our maternall Englyſhe; a dictionary cannot afford a deciſive proof of the non-exiſtence of a word, in ſome other book, which the lexicographer may have never read.
ref: 1797, [George Chalmers], “§ II. Queen Elizabeth; and Her Letter”, in An Apology for the Believers in the Shakespeare-papers, which were Exhibited in Norfolk-Street, London: Printed for Thomas Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 106–107:
text: The little blooming foundling was ſoon ordered to be produced before her, which brought the ſympathy of the mother to her eye, and to her heart. The infant had once, at leaſt, a maternal embrace; [...]. With a truly maternal care the child was placed with wife of one of the domeſticks of the Princeſs, provided with plain neceſſaries, and watched with the eye of humanity and tenderneſs.
ref: 1799 April 15, “P. M.”, “[Untitled letter to the editor]”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume LXIX, part I, number IV, London: Printed by John Nichols, […]; [a]nd sold by Elizabeth Newbery, […], published April 1799, →OCLC, page 267:
text: Thus lonely left, no soft maternal breast / His murmurs soothed, or cradled him to rest; / Moist with delight, no maternal eye / Watched his weak limbs their early efforts try, [...]
ref: 1816 July, Hamilton Sydney Beresford, “Mahomet”, in Cambridge Prize Poems: Being a Complete Collection of the English Poems which have Obtained the Chancellor’s Gold Medal in the University of Cambridge, London: Printed for T. and J. Allman, […]; and sold by Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, […]; J. Deighton and Sons, […]; and J. Parker, […], published 1818, →OCLC, page 81, lines 79–82:
text: Naïve parturient females [i.e., those that have never encountered young animals except for their own litter-mates], unlike most other naïve animals, display immediate maternal behavior as soon as they give birth, except for some rare infanticidal or indifferent mothers. […] This difference between the behavior of naïve mothers and naïve animals other than mothers suggests that gestation and parturition favor a very rapid establishment of maternal behavior.
ref: 1972, Elaine Noirot, “The Onset of Maternal Behavior in Rats, Hamsters, and Mice: A Selective Review”, in Daniel S. Lehrman, Robert A[ubrey] Hinde, Evelyn Shaw, editors, Advances in the Study of Behavior, volume 4, New York, N.Y.; London: Academic Press, →ISBN, section II (Sensitization or Priming), page 108:
text: Maternal smoking during pregnancy is one of the modifiable environmental factors that adversely affects the unborn child. [...] Many studies support the view that maternal smoking retards fetal growth: infants of smokers tend to be 150–325 g lighter at birth than those born to non-smokers.
ref: 1992, Barbara Luke, “Influence of Maternal Smoking on the Course and Outcome of Pregnancy”, in Louis Keith, editor, Principles and Practice of Maternal Nutrition, Carnforth, Lancashire; Park Ridge, N.J.: Parthenon Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 65:
text: In potato, crosses between the tetraploid cultivated species Solanum tuberosum, and some clones of the diploid wild-type species S. phureja, constitute a method of producing maternal dihaploids.
ref: 1998, C. Horlow, C. Raquin, “A Critical Analysis of Existing Haploidization Techniques”, in Y[ves] Chupeau, M[ichel] Caboche, Y[ves] Henry, editors, Androgenesis and Haploid Plants: […] In Memory of Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, page 14:
text: Maternal desire is at once obvious and invisible partly because it is so easily confused with other things. Those fighting for women's progress too often misconstrue it as a throwback or excuse, a self-curtailment of potential. Those who champion women's maternal role too often define it narrowly in the context of service—to one's child, husband, or God.
ref: 2004, Daphne de Marneffe, “The ‘Problem’ of Maternal Desire”, in Maternal Desire: On Children, Love, and the Inner Life, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN:
antonyms: fatherly
paternal
glosses: Of or pertaining to a mother; having the characteristics of a mother; motherly.
examples: text: Toby is my maternal uncle.
text: Doctor [Alexander] MacWhorter was of Scotch extraction. His maternal ancestors were among the first emigrants from Scotland to the North of Ireland; and the family of his father removed to the same country about the time of his father's birth.
ref: 1808 April, “Biography. Sketch of Rev. Dr. MacWhorter.”, in The Panoplist; or, The Christian’s Armory, volume III, number 11 (number 35 overall), Boston, Mass.: Printed by Lincoln & Edmands, […]; [s]old by Caleb Bingham, […], →OCLC, page 481, column 1:
text: It was so in the England of Alfred's day; the maternal kinsfolk paid a third of the wer [i.e., the wergeld]. The Leges Henrici, which about such a matter will not be inventing new rules, tell us that the paternal kinsfolk pay and receive two-thirds, the maternal kinsfolk one-third of the wer; and this is borne out by other evidence.
ref: 1895, Frederick Pollock, Frederic William Maitland, “Inheritance”, in The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I, volume II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: At the University Press; Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, & Company, →OCLC, § 1 (Antiquities), page 239:
text: While the attribution to the elder children of the given names of paternal grandparents was generally respected, alternation between paternal and maternal lines was not the rule. The father is more apt to have recourse to relatively distant paternal kin or to his own maternal kin than to his own affines. The paternal given names easily supplant the maternal ones.
ref: 1985, Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, “The Name ‘Remade’”, in Lydia Cochrane, transl., Women, Family and Ritual in Renaissance Italy, paperback edition, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 298:
antonyms: paternal
glosses: Related through the mother, or her side of the family.
examples: text: The facts which have now been stated warrant, I think, the conclusion, that the human placenta does not consist of two parts, maternal and fœtal, that no cells exist in its substance, and that there is no communication between the uterus and the placenta by large arteries and veins.
ref: 1831 November 17, Robert Lee, “III. On the Structure of the Human Placenta, and Its Connexion with the Uterus.”, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, part I, London: Printed by Richard Taylor […], published 1832, →OCLC, page 63:
text: Undernutrition occurs when dietary intake cannot meet nutritional requirements. The synthesis of maternal and fetal tissue or breast milk, and the associated costs of maternal maintenance increase nutrient requirements during pregnancy and lactation.
ref: 1991, Barbara Abrams, “Maternal Undernutrition and Reproductive Performance”, in Frank Falkner, editor, Infant and Child Nutrition Worldwide: Issues and Perspectives, Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN, page 33:
text: Chorionic villus samples typically contain a mixture of placental villi and maternally derived decidua. Although specimens are thoroughly washed and inspected under a microscope after collection, some maternal cells may remain and grow in the culture. As a result, two cell lines, one fetal and the other maternal, may be identified. In other cases, the maternal cell line may completely overgrow the culture, thereby leading to diagnostic errors, including incorrect sex determination, and potentially to false-negative diagnoses, although there are no published reports of the latter.
ref: 2009, Ronald J. Wapner, Thomas M. Jenkins, Nahla Khalek, “Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Disorders”, in Robert K. Creasy, Robert Resnick, Jay D. Iams, Charles J. Lockwood, Thomas R. Moore, editors, Creasy and Resnicks Maternal–Fetal Medicine: Principles and Practice, 6th edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier, →ISBN, pages 253–254:
text: While the animal–vegetal axis is patterned exclusively by maternal factors, the later developing dorsal–ventral axis depends on formation of the animal–vegetal axis and requires both maternal and zygotic contributions in zebrafish and frogs.
ref: 2010, Florence L. Marlow, “Dorsal–Ventral Axis Formation before Zygotic Genome Activation in Zebrafish and Frogs”, in Daniel Kessler, editor, Maternal Control of Development in Vertebrates: My Mother Made Me Do It! (Colloquium Series in Developmental Biology), [San Rafael, Calif.]: Morgan & Claypool Life Sciences, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 105:
topics: anatomy
medicine
sciences
antonyms: fetal
foetal
glosses: Derived from the mother as opposed to the foetus during pregnancy.
Coordinate terms: english: relating to an uncle
translation: relating to an uncle
word: avuncular
english: relating to a daughter or son
translation: relating to a daughter or son
word: filial
english: relating to a brother
translation: relating to a brother
word: fraternal
english: relating to a husband
translation: relating to a husband
word: marital
word: materteral
english: relating to an aunt
translation: relating to an aunt
word: materterine
english: relating to a nephew
translation: relating to a nephew
word: nepotal
english: relating to a parent
translation: relating to a parent
word: parental
english: relating to a sister
translation: relating to a sister
word: sororal
english: relating to a wife
translation: relating to a wife
word: uxorial
Derived terms: allomaternal
antimaternal
bimaternal
direct maternal death
feto-maternal
fetomaternal
foetomaternal
grandmaternal
indirect maternal death
maternal aunt
maternal cousin
maternal custody
maternal death
maternal effect
maternal grandchild
maternal grandfather
maternal grandmother
maternal half aunt
maternal half-uncle
maternal impression
maternalisation
maternalism
maternalist
maternalistic
maternalization
maternalize
maternally
maternalness
maternal orphan
maternal uncle
maternal wall
nonmaternal
prematernal
transmaternal
ultramaternal
unmaternal
Related terms: maternity