From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmaternalma‧ter‧nal /məˈtɜːnl $ -ɜːr-/ ●○○ adjective 1 MOTHERtypical of the way a good mother behaves or feels → paternal Annie was wonderfully warm and maternal. She seems to have a strong maternal instinct (=desire to have babies and take care of them).2 [only before noun]MBMOTHER relating to a mother or to being a mother → paternal the relationship between maternal age and infant mortality3 → maternal grandfather/aunt etc —maternally adverb
Examples from the Corpus
maternal• Though maternal age and birth order have an independent effect on the viability of the fetus, that act together.• At first, reading this passage I let out a gasp: I had never seen maternal ambivalence described on the page.• The content of the false self rises out of maternal expectations and claims.• They would think her maternal instinct outraged at the extraction of her child?• Lack of maternal love can have a profound effect on a child's psychological development.• My oldest sister, Roberta, used to fuss over me in a rather maternal manner.• Also, he has the confidence to let me know when I use my maternal prerogative to automatically overrule him.• Our results pertain to a sample of 101 subjects, in many of whom the birth weight was obtained by maternal recall.• Maternal smoking increases the risk of low birth weight.• The older girls seemed to feel quite maternal towards the younger ones.• His maternal uncle, William Dauney, had been an architect in Aberdeen.• I get sort of maternal when I'm around those kids.• Aunt Mary was a large, maternal woman who worked as a nurse in a children's hospital.maternal instinct• Gertrude lacks any maternal instinct.• Pity probably, and an over-developed maternal instinct.• The maternal instinct can't be dumped, even when you've got rid of your baby.• They would think her maternal instinct outraged at the extraction of her child?• A strong maternal instinct takes over.• I had very strong domestic and maternal instincts; there was no way of tramping those down.Origin maternal (1400-1500) French maternel, from Latin maternus, from mater “mother” 