maternal

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

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)}]

from The 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]

from 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.

from 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

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