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paternity

UK/pəˈtɜːnɪti/US/pəˈtɜɹnəti/
nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #8,450 of 15,258neutral

Paternity is everything to do with being a father. Paternity leave, a paternity test, establish paternity.

Paternity leave is the time a father may take after a birth, and Britain's statutory allowance of two weeks is among the shortest in Europe. A paternity test compares DNA and is close to conclusive. Establishing paternity matters for legal responsibility rather than for feeling. Note maternity, which does the same work on the other side; and paternal, meaning fatherly.

Definitions of paternity

  1. 1nounpaternityEverything to do with being a father.B2+

    “Paternity leave in Britain runs about two weeks.”

paternity is fatherhood.

Where it comes from

Latin paternitas comes from pater, father. Paternal, patron, patriot and pattern come from the same father.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *peh₂-

  2. Latin

    paternitās — paternity

  3. Middle French

    paternité

  4. English, today

    paternity

Built from

  • paternus · Latin — of or pertaining to a father, paternal
  • pater · Latin — father

From Middle French paternité, from Old French -, from Latin paternitās (“paternity”), from paternus (“of or pertaining to a father, paternal”) + -itās, from pater (“father”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Babies & Growing Up

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paternity in the wild

  • Today, when paternity is in dispute or doubt, paternity testing may be used to conclusively resolve the issue.

    Paternity law

  • DNA paternity testing uses DNA profiles to determine whether an individual is the biological parent of another individual.

    DNA paternity testing

  • Paternity testing can be essential when the rights and duties of the father are in issue, and a child's paternity is in doubt.

    DNA paternity testing

  • Parton published the Carr story, and major historians of Jefferson generally denied Jefferson's paternity for nearly 150 years.

    Jefferson–Hemings controversy

  • For example, the cichlid fish V. moorii spawns in the days leading up to each full moon (lunar synchrony), and broods often exhibit multiple paternity.

    Reproductive synchrony

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the pater family

patronpaternitypaternal

paternity — used about once every 3,490 pages · #8,450 · point at the bar for the others