Definition of "maternally" [ma•ter•nal•ly]

• In a maternal manner. (adverb)
• Motherly, as a mother (adverb)

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• "Doubtless the paternal ancestor of the subject of this biography was seated in the colony early in the seventeenth century, but it is proposed to deduce first his descent maternally, which is more"
• "Mitochondrial genomes, being maternally inherited and es-sentially clonal, are necessarily related in a nested hierarchic fashion"
• "She held the cup up to his lips maternally, and then pushed him toward his bedroom."