Link Centre Dictionary

paternity

pa·ter·nity

UK/pəˈtɜːnɪti/ US/pəˈtɜɹnəti/ uncommon

noun

1.

the state of being a father

  • “tests were conducted to determine paternity”
2.
3.

the act of initiating a new idea or theory or writing

  • “the authorship of the theory is disputed”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle French paternité, from Old French, from Latin paternitās (“paternity”), from paternus (“of or pertaining to a father, paternal”) + -itās, from pater (“father”).

Phrases

  • paternity leave
  • paternity suit
  • paternity test

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.