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Fatherless vs Paternal - What's the difference?

fatherless | paternal |

As adjectives the difference between fatherless and paternal

is that fatherless is without a living father while paternal is of or pertaining to one's father, his genes, his relatives, or his side of a family.

fatherless

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Without a living father.
  • *{{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=June 17 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Homer’s Triple Bypass” (season 4, episode 11; originally aired 12/17/1992) , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=“Homer’s Triple Bypass” has the potential to be the most depressing episode in the history of The Simpsons, if not television as whole. It is, after all, about a 36-year-old husband and father staring down death and the prospect of leaving his wife a young widow and his small children fatherless . }}

    Derived terms

    * fatherlessness

    See also

    * half orphan * orphan * motherless * parentless

    paternal

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of or pertaining to one's father, his genes, his relatives, or his side of a family
    • paternal grandfather
  • Fatherly; behaving as or characteristic of a father.
  • Received or inherited from one's father.
  • * Dryden
    • their small paternal field of corn
  • Acting as a father
    • paternal filicide

    Derived terms

    * paternalism * paternalistic * paternally * paternal aunt * paternal cousin * paternal grandfather * paternal grandmother * paternal uncle

    Antonyms

    * maternal – mother

    Coordinate terms

    * avuncular – uncle * maternal – mother * materteral – aunt

    Anagrams

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