Meaning

adjective characteristic of a mother; - Dorothy Sayers

adjective relating to or derived from one's mother

adjective relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent

originPIE word *méh₂tēr The adjective is derived from Late Middle English maternal, maternall, from Middle French maternel (“maternal”) (modern French maternel (“maternal; native”)), or from its etymon Late Latin māternālis (“maternal”), from Latin māternus (“maternal; related to the mother or her side of the family”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). Māternus is derived…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0