Etymology

materteral

mat·er·ter·al
M3A1T1E1R1T1E1R1A1L1

Today it means: Of or relating to, or in the manner of, an aunt. Full definition →

First used early 19th c.Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Latin mātertera
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The story

  1. Latinmātertera
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  4. English todaymaterteral

From Latin mātertera (“maternal aunt”) + English -al (suffix forming adjectives). Mātertera is derived from māter (“mother”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (“mother”)) + ‑tera (feminine form of ‑ter (suffix forming nouns)).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*méh₂tēr all →

maternalmadeiraimmaterialmaterterine

First known use, by meaning

  • from early 19th c. Of or relating to, or in the manner of, an aunt.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.