Paternity


[puh-tur-ni-tee] /pəˈtɜr nɪ ti/

noun
1.
the state of being a father; fatherhood.
2.
derivation or acquirement from a father.
3.
origin or authorship.
adjective
4.
noting or pertaining to a legal dispute in which an unwed mother accuses a man of being the father of her child:
a paternity suit.
/pəˈtɜːnɪtɪ/
noun
1.

2.
descent or derivation from a father
3.
authorship or origin: the paternity of the theory is disputed
n.

mid-15c., “condition of being a father,” from Old French paternité (12c.), from Late Latin paternitatem (nominative paternitas) “fatherly care, fatherhood,” from Latin paternus “of a father,” from pater (see father (n.)). Originally in the ecclesiastical sense; literal sense first recorded 1580s. Meaning “paternal origin” is from 1868.

paternity pa·ter·ni·ty (pə-tûr’nĭ-tē)
n.

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  • Paternity suit

    noun 1. (law) the US (and in Britain a nontechnical) term for affiliation proceedings

  • Paternity-test

    noun 1. an assessment of possible paternity based on a comparison of the genetic markers of the offspring and those of the putative father. paternity test n. A test using blood group identification of a mother, child, and putative father to establish the probability of paternity.

  • Paternoster

    [pey-ter-nos-ter, pah‐, pat-er‐] /ˈpeɪ tərˈnɒs tər, ˈpɑ‐, ˈpæt ər‐/ noun 1. (often initial capital letter). Also, Pater Noster. the Lord’s Prayer, especially in the Latin form. 2. a recitation of this prayer as an act of worship. 3. one of certain beads in a rosary, regularly every 11th bead, differing in size or material from […]

  • Pater-patriae

    [pah-ter pah-tree-ahy; English pey-ter pey-tree-ee, pat-er pa-tree-ee] /ˈpɑ tɛr ˈpɑ triˌaɪ; English ˈpeɪ tər ˈpeɪ triˌi, ˈpæt ər ˈpæ triˌi/ noun 1. Latin. father of his country.


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