English → Latin
“paternal” in Latin
paternusof or pertaining to a father, paternal, fatherly; related through the father, or his side of the family, paternal; of orpatriusfather’s, fatherly, paternal; hereditary; ancestralliberbook; the inner bark of a treeequushorse; steed, chargerfrāterbrother; male friend, lover; sibling
The English word paternal itself goes back to Latin pater, through paternālis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
paternal
paternus (generic; so far as things relating or belonging to a father are distinguished from each other; e.g., paterni agri, libri, equi, paternae aedes; or so far as a father is regarded in an individual capacity, distinct from other persons; e.g., mater, frater): patrius (modal; so far as the idea of a father is distinguished from others more general; e.g., res patriae, bona patria, as distinguished from aliena, alio quovis modo acquisita).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for paternal?
- The usual Latin words for “paternal” are paternus, patrius, liber; also equus, frāter. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.