maternal

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*méh₂tēr“mother”
2. Latin · derived frommāternus“maternal; related to the mother or her side of the family”
3. Late Latin · derived frommāternālis“maternal”
4. Middle French · derived frommaternel“maternal”
5. Middle English · inherited frommaternal
6. English todaymaternal

PIE 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 from māter (“mother”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (“mother”)) + -rnus (suffix forming adjectives). The English word is cognate with Italian maternale, materno, Portuguese maternal, materno, Spanish maternal, materno. The noun is derived from the adjective.

Words from the same roots