- Word Combinations (adjective), Word Explorer, Word Parts
|part of speech:
||of, relating to, or characteristic of a mother.
Maternal behavior comes naturally to these animals.She felt maternal love for all her children.Sadly for the young man, her feelings for him were more maternal than romantic.
- similar words:
- mother, nurturing, parental
||related on the mother's side of the family.
My maternal grandmother is much older than my father's mother.
||maternalistic (adj.), maternally (adv.), maternalism (n.)