parental

[ puh-ren-tl ]

adjective

1. of or relating to a parent.
2. proper to or characteristic of a parent:

   parental feelings.

3. having the relation of a parent
4. Genetics. pertaining to the sequence of generations preceding the filial generation, each generation being designated by a P followed by a subscript number indicating its place in the sequence.

noun

1. Informal. one's parent: Also called pa·ren·tal u·nit [p, uh, -, ren, -tl , yoo, -nit].

   I'm headed for a vacation with the parentals.

Other Words From

• pa·rental·ly adverb
• inter·par·ental adjective
• nonpa·rental adjective
• nonpa·rental·ly adverb
• postpa·rental adjective
• unpa·rental adjective
• unpa·rental·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of parental¹

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin parentālis “of, belonging to parents,” equivalent to parent- “parent” + -ālis adjective suffix; parent, -al ¹

Example Sentences

The figures, from a Freedom of Information request submitted by campaign group The Dad Shift, show the top 20% of earners make up 60% of those to use shared parental leave.

From BBC

Last October, Traoré was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison by a court in Belgium on charges of parental abduction for "failing to hand over a child to the person entitled to custody".

From BBC

Last year, France introduced legislation to block social media access for children under 15 without parental consent, though research indicates almost half of users were able to avoid the ban using a VPN.

From BBC

New Curtin University research challenges views on screen time, revealing factors such as parental mental health and the type of screen being used may have some impact on child development.

From Science Daily

The study, published on November 21 in the journal Child Development, found that framing the task of getting dressed as a chance for preschool-aged children to learn reduced parental intervention by about 50%.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• fatherly
• maternal
• paternal