maternal English · revision 39678

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1481, W. Caxton, Mirror of the World|origins=la māter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /məˈtɜːnəl/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /məˈtɝnəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is either [[bor|frm|maternel]] or its probable source [[bor|la-med|māternālis]],^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023) formed [[af|la|māternus|-ālis|t1=of a mother]];^(OED 2026)^(Dictionary.com 2016) Barnhart suggests that ''māternālis'' was modelled on [[m|la|mātrōnālis|t=befitting a matron]].^(Barnhart 1988) ''Māternus'' is derived from [[m|la|māter|t=mother]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010)^(Hoad 1986) which is cognate with English [[mother]].^(Skeat 1911)^(Ayto 2005) The Anglo-Norman ''maternel'' is recorded from about 1380,^(AND) and Middle French ''maternel'' from about 1370, at first in a phrase meaning "mother tongue".^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of a language, native or first learned, a mother tongue: 1481, in William Caxton's translation of the ''Mirror of the World''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(HTOED) Etymonline dates the word to the late 15th century,^(Etymonline) and Dictionary.com to 1475–85.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense "of or relating to a mother, motherly" followed in 1492, in the poems of James Ryman,^(OED 2026) and became the main one;^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) defined the word as motherly, befitting or pertaining to a mother.^(Johnson 1755) The OED records "belonging to a mother" from 1605 and "related through the mother", as in ''maternal uncle'', from 1650;^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Etymonline dates "inherited or derived from a mother" to the 1650s.^(Etymonline) In anatomy and medicine it was used from 1691 of what belongs to the mother as opposed to the fetus.^(OED 2026) "Being a mother" is recorded from 1748, in Samuel Richardson's ''Clarissa'',^(OED 2026) and "having the instincts of a mother" from 1785, in William Cowper's ''The Task'';^(OED 2026) Etymonline gives 1784.^(Etymonline) In British schoolboy slang ''the maternal'' meant one's mother from 1867, a use now archaic.^(OED 2026) The figurative application to a country or river regarded as a mother (a1522, Gavin Douglas) is now rare.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1481 – of a language, native.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1492 – of or relating to a mother; motherly.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1522 – figurative, of a country or river regarded as a mother.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1650 – related through the mother.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1691 – anatomy and medicine, belonging to the mother rather than the fetus.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1785 – having the instincts of a mother.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1867 – British slang, ''the maternal'', one's mother.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, relating to or typical of a [[mother]]; [[motherly]]: ''She felt a maternal concern for the new recruits.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Related through the mother's side of the family: ''my maternal grandfather''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(medicine)'' Of or relating to the mother during [[pregnancy]], as distinct from the [[fetus]]: ''maternal health''.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[maternalism]]

+ * [[maternally]]

+ * [[maternalistic]]

+ * [[nonmaternal]]

+ * [[unmaternal]]

+ * [[maternalize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[maternity]]

+ * [[mother]]

+ * [[matron]]

+ * [[matrix]]

+ * [[material]]

+ * [[matter]]

+ * [[paternal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}