Hypertext Webster Gateway: "paternal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Paternal \Pa*ter"nal\, a. [L. paternus, fr. pater a father: cf.
F. paternel. See {Father}.]
1. Of or pertaining to a father; fatherly; showing the
disposition of a father; guiding or instructing as a
father; as, paternal care. ``Under paternal rule.''
--Milton.
2. Received or derived from a father; hereditary; as, a
paternal estate.
Their small paternal field of corn. --Dryden.
{Paternal government} (Polit. Science), the assumption by the
governing power of a quasi-fatherly relation to the
people, involving strict and intimate supervision of their
business and social concerns, upon the theory that they
are incapable of managing their own afffairs.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
paternal
adj 1: belonging to or inherited from one's father; "spent his
childhood on the paternal farm"; "paternal traits"
2: characteristic of a father [ant: {maternal}]
3: relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent;
"parental guidance" [syn: {parental}, {maternal}] [ant: {filial}]
4: related on the father's side; "a paternal aunt" [syn: {agnate},
{agnatic}, {paternal(p)}]
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