maternal — English Dictionary

Adjective

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

   Antonyms

   fatherlypaternal

   Examples

   His weakness seemed to bring out her maternal instincts.

   More examples (8)

   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.

   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.

   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.

   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, [...]

   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.

   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.

   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.

   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.

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

   Antonyms

   paternal

   Examples

   Toby is my maternal uncle.

   More examples (3)

   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.

   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.

   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.

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

   Antonyms

   fetalfoetal

   Examples

   More examples (4)

   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.

   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.

   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.

   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.

Noun

1. A mother.

   Usage

   • Dated
   • Informal
   • Rare

   Examples

   More examples (3)

   In the necessarily brief space allotted to a review in these pages it would be impossible to sketch out the story at any length. Suffice it that there are two fathers, two sons and two daughters; the maternals, for once, go for little, but there is an Aunt Philly—a conception, that starts out in the intense reality of existence.

   [...] I would especially bring to your attention the manifest propriety of discountenancing any familiarity from your mothers when in society. If obliged to go with your tiresome maternals to any social gathering, you may reclaim your freedom immediately upon entering the room by slipping abstractedly away in the direction of the piano, and from thenceforth being artlessly forgetful of all messages forwarded to you, and miraculously blind to all beckonings and elevation of fans.

   A little girl of this city, who is acknowledged by all to be pretty smart, was holding a very animated conversation with one of about her own years, a few days since. [...] After naming over various meritorious acts of which their maternals were capable, the one in question put an end to the dispute by exclaiming, "Well, there's one thing my mother can do that yours can't—my mother can take every one of her teeth out at once."

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

   Usage

   • Rare

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Divide what? The estate that came from the father to the son. Amongst whom? The paternal brothers. If it means, that paternals and maternals shall now divide, as paternals formerly did, the whole sentence operates nothing; for without, the half blood on both sides, would have taken. But say it establishes a well-known standard to divide by, and that this standard excludes the maternals, then every word, as well as this word "only," has a material effect and energy.

   If there are both paternal and maternal uncles and aunts, the maternals take a third, even if there is only one of them, and whether male or female, and the paternals two-thirds, even though there is only one of them, and whether male or female. If the maternals are of one kind, a male has the portion of two females.

   My maternals were Huguenots on the lamb from the Duque de Guise and his cronies.

Adjective

1. characteristic of a mother

   Antonyms

   paternal

2. relating to or derived from one's mother

   Examples

   maternal genes

3. relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent

   Synonyms

   parentalpaternal

   Examples

   parental guidance

4. related on the mother's side

   Synonyms

   enateenatic

   Examples

   my maternal grandmother