maternel

Maternel is a French adjective meaning related to a mother; it is often translated as maternal in English. It has masculine and feminine forms: maternel and maternelle, which agree with the noun they modify. The term is used across domains to denote things connected to motherhood or maternal lineage.

In biology and genetics, maternel describes inheritance or transmission that originates from the mother, such as the maternal transmission of mitochondrial DNA or maternal traits passed through the female line. In genealogy and anthropology, terms like lignée maternelle (maternal lineage) and matrilinéaire describe descent through the mother. In sociology and psychology, it can refer to motherly aspects of care, bonding, and roles within the family, as in lien maternel (maternal bond) or rôle maternel (maternal role).

In linguistics and related fields, maternel is used to contrast with paternel (paternal) to discuss features or influences attributed to the mother’s side of a family or lineage. The related noun is often motherhood, expressed as maternité, while the opposite concept is paternité.

In French education, the word maternelle appears in the feminine form in the standard phrase école maternelle, meaning kindergarten or nursery school. Here the adjective describes the school as pertaining to early childhood, not to gender or motherhood directly, and the feminine form matches the feminine noun école.

See also: maternité, mère, paternité, matière maternelle in linguistic contexts, and matrilinéaire.