Meanings
plural paternities
- countableuncountableFatherhood, the state or quality of being a father.
- countableuncountablelawLegal acknowledgement of a man's fatherhood of a child.
- countablefigurativelyuncountableAuthorship.
The author asserted her right to paternity on the book's copyright page.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe kinship relation between an offspring and the father
nounthe act of initiating a new idea or theory or writing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpaternitās“paternity”
- Middle Frenchpaternité
- 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”).
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Latin paternitās
- paternitāsparental descent from father's side
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with paternity
All rhymes →Cite this entry
paternity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paternity
“paternity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paternity. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paternity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paternity.
Source: paternity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.