paternity

What it means

1. countableuncountableFatherhood, the state or quality of being a father.
2. countableuncountableParental descent from a father.
3. countableuncountablelawLegal acknowledgement of a man's fatherhood of a child.

In a sentence

The author asserted her right to paternity on the book's copyright page.

Where it comes from

1. Latinpaternitās“paternity”
2. Middle Frenchpaternité
3. Englishpaternity

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