paternal
/pəˈtɜɹ.nəl/adjective, noun
paternal is spelled P-A-T-E-R-N-A-L: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, paternal means “Of or pertaining to one's father, his genes, his relatives, or his side of a family” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in paternal?
| Letters | 8: P-A-T-E-R-N-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,629th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is paternal?
Paternal appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce paternal?
- UK /pəˈtɜː.nəl/
- US /pəˈtɜɹ.nəl/
- Australia /pəˈtɜː.nəl/
Paternal has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-paternal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with paternal?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as paternal from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹnəl/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: parental, prenatal.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of paternal
- more paternal comparative
- most paternal superlative
- paternals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does paternal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or pertaining to one's father, his genes, his relatives, or his side of a family.
paternal grandfather
- 2
Fatherly; behaving as or characteristic of a father.
- 3
Received or inherited from one's father.
- 4
Acting as a father.
noun
- 1
rareA person related through the father, or his side of the family; a paternal relative.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Paternal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does paternal come from?
From Old French paternal (“of a father”) (12th c.), from Vulgar Latin paternālis (“paternal”), from Latin paternus (“of or pertaining to a father, paternal”), from pater (“father”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).