parental

From Middle French parental, from Latin parentālis, from parens (“parent”).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /pəˈɹɛn.təl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /pəˈɹen.təl/

parental (comparative more parental, superlative most parental)

1. Of or relating to a parent.
2. Befitting a parent; affectionate; tender.
3. (genetics) Of the generation of organisms that produce a hybrid.
   • 1916, William E. Castle, Gregor Mendel, Genetics & Eugenics‎^[1], page 101:

     This, following Bateson, we may call the parental generation or P generation. Subsequent generations are called filial generations (abbreviated F) and their numerical order is indicated by a subscript, [...]

• (antonym(s) of “relating to a parent”): filial
• (antonym(s) of “genetics”): filial

• monoparental

• paternal
• maternal

parental (plural parentals)

1. A person fulfilling a parental role.

   Nowadays there are all kinds of potential parentals besides parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, step-parents, in-laws, older siblings and cousins, and those in civil unions.

• paternal, prenatal

From parent +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /pa.ʁɑ̃.tal/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

parental (feminine parentale, masculine plural parentaux, feminine plural parentales)

1. parental

• monoparental

• “parental”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• plantera

From Latin parentālis.

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: pa‧ren‧tal

parental m or f (plural parentais, not comparable)

1. (relational) parent; parental
2. (relational) relative (relating to familial relations)

• parente

• “parental”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “parental”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French parental.

parental m or n (feminine singular parentală, masculine plural parentali, feminine/neuter plural parentale)

1. parental

From Latin parentālis.

• IPA^(key): /paɾenˈtal/ [pa.ɾẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: pa‧ren‧tal

parental m or f (masculine and feminine plural parentales)

1. parental

• “parental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025