Category:Paternal

Pa*ter"nal, a. Etym: [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.