Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Paternal \Pa*ter"nal\, a. [L. paternus, fr. pater a father: cf.
   F. paternel. See {Father}.]
   1. Of or pertaining to a father; fatherly; showing the
      disposition of a father; guiding or instructing as a
      father; as, paternal care. ``Under paternal rule.''
      --Milton.

   2. Received or derived from a father; hereditary; as, a
      paternal estate.

            Their small paternal field of corn.   --Dryden.

   {Paternal government} (Polit. Science), the assumption by the
      governing power of a quasi-fatherly relation to the
      people, involving strict and intimate supervision of their
      business and social concerns, upon the theory that they
      are incapable of managing their own afffairs.