Search Result for "maternal": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (4)

1. characteristic of a mother;
- Example: "warm maternal affection for her guest"- Dorothy Sayers

2. relating to or derived from one's mother;
- Example: "maternal genes"

3. relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent;
- Example: "parental guidance"
[syn: parental, maternal, paternal]

4. related on the mother's side;
- Example: "my maternal grandmother"
[syn: enate, enatic, maternal(p)]


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]
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)]
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
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.