Where does “maternal” come from?
Maternal comes from Middle English maternall, from Middle French maternel, from Latin maternus, derived from Latin mater meaning mother, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European méh₂tēr.
maternal (English): Of or pertaining to a mother; having the...
Definitions
- Of or pertaining to a mother; having the...
Ancestry of “maternal”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | maternal | — |
| 2 | Middle French | maternel | maternal |
| 3 | Latin | māternus | — |
| 4 | Latin | -nus | -an |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -nos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -nós | Creates verbal adjectives from roots |
Words derived from “maternal”