paternal
From the father
Paternal means relating to a father or fatherhood.
A paternal grandfather is your father's father; paternal leave is time off for new fathers.
The word also describes father-like qualities—protective, guiding, sometimes overbearing: He took a paternal interest in his young colleagues.
Compare maternal for mother-related meanings.
Descent from progenitors
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- genealogyStudy of family descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- descentDownward slope or lineage
pedigree · ancestry · forefathers · progenitors · forebears · patrimony · family tree · kinship
Feeling deep affection
- caringShowing kind concern
- supportiveOffering help and reassurance
- affectionateShowing warm regard
- devotedLoyally and lovingly attached
tender · gentle · kind · compassionate · understanding · warmhearted · attentive · encouraging
Carefully attentive, observant
- vigilantKeenly aware of danger
- guardianProtective caretaker of another
- defenderOne who guards another
- shieldingProtecting from harm
safeguarding · custodian · provider · breadwinner · sheltering · overprotective · worry · concern
Strict or ship's aft
- strictRigorous, without flexibility
- disciplineTrained self-control or specialty
- firmnessResistance to deformation
- authorityPower to enforce obedience
command · dominance · control · rule · decree · directive · regimentation · hierarchy
Advising someone less experienced
- teachingProfession of instructing others
- advisingGiving informed guidance
- coachingGuiding others to improve
- counselingProfessional guidance for problems
wisdom · experience · instruction · direction · influence · role model · example · lessons
lineage
Descent from progenitors
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- genealogyStudy of family descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
descent · pedigree · ancestry · forefathers · progenitors · forebears · patrimony · family tree · kinship · clan
loving
Feeling deep affection
- caringShowing kind concern
- supportiveOffering help and reassurance
- affectionateShowing warm regard
devoted · tender · gentle · kind · compassionate · understanding · warmhearted · attentive · encouraging · reassuring
watchful
Carefully attentive, observant
shielding · safeguarding · custodian · provider · breadwinner · sheltering · overprotective · worry · concern · looking out
stern
Strict or ship's aft
- strictRigorous, without flexibility
- disciplineTrained self-control or specialty
- firmnessResistance to deformation
authority · command · dominance · control · rule · decree · directive · regimentation · hierarchy · traditional
mentoring
Advising someone less experienced
- teachingProfession of instructing others
- advisingGiving informed guidance
- coachingGuiding others to improve
counseling · wisdom · experience · instruction · direction · influence · role model · example · lessons · training
- fatherhooddad, daddy, papa, pa, pop
- lovingloving, adoring, affectionate, amorous, caring
- parentageparentage, maternity, fatherhood, motherhood, natural parent
- primate traitsopposable thumbs, grasping hands, prehensile, binocular vision, arboreal
- familymother, parents, siblings, parent, son
- hereditygenes, DNA, gene, chromosomes, genetics
paternalmaternal
Of or like mothers
motherly · matrilineal · mother's side · maternalistic · matriarchal
paternalharsh
Unpleasantly severe or rough
cold · indifferent · neglectful · uncaring · abusive
- paternity testGenetic proof of parentage
- paternity leaveFather's childcare absence
- paternal cousinRelative through your father's side
- paternity suitLawsuit establishing fatherhood
- paternity testingGenetic confirmation of fatherhood
- paternal grandmotherFather's side matriarch
paternity, paternalism, paternally, paternalistic, paternities, paternalize, paternal grandfather, paternal uncle