October 27, 2009
- paternal (adjective)
- \puh-TER-nul\
- What does it mean?
- 1 : fatherly2 : related through the father
- How do you use it?
- Uncle Vern, my wacky paternal uncle, often tells me stories about the mischief he and my dad got into as little boys.
- Are you a word wiz?
"Paternal" has its beginnings in the Latin word "pater," which means "father." Which of the words below do you think is also from "pater"?
Even though your pater may be a patently patient parent, the word "patriot" is the only one in our list that is related to "pater." English speakers actually learned "patriot" from a French word that meant "someone from one's own country." That French word descended from the Latin "patria," meaning "lineage," and "patria" came from "pater." We only listed one "pater" descendant, but that root has given English many other words, including "patron" (which refers to a customer in a store) and "expatriate" (a synonym of the verb "exile").
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