materteral

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Latin mātertera (maternal aunt) + -al.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

materteral (comparative more materteral, superlative most materteral)

  1. Pertaining to, or in the manner of, an aunt.
    • 1990, (US), Peter Van Inwagen, Material Beings, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 9:
      It may be that stipulations about parts and wholes are, in some way that undermines my materteral analogies, unlike stipulations about aunts and legacies.
    • 2004, (UK), Saif Rahman, Archipelago, Twenty First Century Publishers Ltd, →ISBN, page 150:
      Only some insistent pleading (materteral rather than avuncular) had changed their mind.
    • 2006, (US), R. D. Chrisman, Cathedral Ledge, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 123:
      It pleased her to see Aunt Maude waiting tables. Smiling to herself, Alice reflected that Maude was materteral ... like a kindly aunt.
    • 2013 October 5, Bee Rowlatt, “Japan's new luxury sleeper train [print edition: Suite surrender on the rails]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Travel)[1], archived from the original on 9 November 2013, page T9:
      A materteral lady told me that people come here from the city in search of peace.

Synonyms

[edit]

Coordinate terms

[edit]

References

[edit]
  • The Oxford English Dictionary has materteral and materterine, both derived from the Latin mātertera ("maternal aunt"), and described as "humorously pedantic"; for "characteristic of an aunt". There are two quotations : With maternal and materteral anxiety (1823) and A kindly materterine message (1874).

Anagrams

[edit]