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parental

/pəˈrɛntəl/
/pəˈrɛntəl/
IPA guide

Someone who's parental acts the way a typical mother or father does. A parental kindergarten teacher might pat students' heads and call them "sweetheart."

You can use the adjective parental to describe a motherly or fatherly person, like your parental uncle who attends all your school plays. It also describes something generally related to parents — like parental leave, a work benefit that allows new parents to take some time off to care for their baby; or a parental advisory, which warns parents about the content of an audio recording. The Latin root of parental is parens, "father or mother."

Definitions of parental
  1. adjective
    relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent
    parental guidance”
    synonyms: maternal, paternal
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    antonyms:
    filial
    relating to or characteristic of or befitting an offspring
    daughterly
    befitting a daughter
  2. adjective
    designating the generation of organisms from which hybrid offspring are produced
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    antonyms:
    filial
    designating the generation or the sequence of generations following the parental generation
Pronunciation
US
/pəˈrɛntəl/
UK
/pəˈrɛntəl/
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