||Pa`ter*fa*mil`i*as (?), n.; pl. Pateresfamilias (#). [L., fr. pater
||father + familias, gen. of familia family.] (Rom. Law) The head of a
||family; in a large sense, the proprietor of an estate; one who is his
||own master.
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.
Pa*ter"nal*ism (?), n. (Polit. Science) The theory or practice of
paternal government. See Paternal government, under Paternal. London
Times.
Pa*ter"nal*ly, adv. In a paternal manner.
Pa*ter"ni*ty (?), n. [L. paternitas: cf. F. paternitÈ. See Paternal.]
1. The relation of a father to his child; fathership; fatherhood;
family headship; as, the divine paternity.
The world, while it had scarcity of people, underwent no other
dominion than paternity and eldership.
Sir W. Raleigh.
2. Derivation or descent from a father; male parentage; as, the
paternity of a child.