Paternal means to do with a father, or fatherly in feeling. Paternal grandmother.
In family trees it names the father's side, so a paternal grandmother is his mother. Of a manner it means kindly and slightly controlling, which is why paternalism is a criticism.
1adjectivepaternalTo do with a father, or fatherly in feeling.
“Her paternal grandmother had come over in 1948.”
paternal is a quality.
Latin paternus comes from pater, a father.
Proto-Indo-European
*peh₂-
Latin
paternus — of or pertaining to a father, paternal
Vulgar Latin
paternālis — paternal
Old French
paternal — of a father
English, today
paternal
Built 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”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA