1. paternity(n = noun.state) - the state of being a father; "tests were conducted to determine paternity"
is a kind of state
Derived form adjective paternal2
2. paternity(n = noun.linkdef) fatherhood - the kinship relation between an offspring and the father;
is a kind of family relationship, kinship, relationship
Derived form adjective paternal4
3. paternity(n = noun.act) authorship - the act of initiating a new idea or theory or writing; "the authorship of the theory is disputed"
is a kind of creation, foundation, founding, initiation, innovation, instauration, institution, introduction, origination
1. The relation of a father to his child; fathership; fatherhood; family headship; as, the divine paternity. [1913 Webster]
"The world, while it had scarcity of people, underwent no other dominion than paternity and eldership." [1913 Webster]
2. Derivation or descent from a father; male parentage; as, the paternity of a child. [1913 Webster]
3. Origin; authorship. [1913 Webster]
"The paternity of these novels was . . . disputed." [1913 Webster]
paternity, n.
1 fatherhood.
2 one's paternal origin.
3 the source or authorship of a thing.
Idiom:
paternity test a blood test to determine whether a man may be or cannot be the father of a particular child.
Etymology:
ME f. OF paternit{eacute} or LL paternitas
N paternity, parentage, consanguinity, parent, father, sire, dad, papa, paterfamilias, abba, genitor, progenitor, procreator, ancestor, grandsire, grandfather, great- grandfather, fathership, fatherhood, mabap, house, stem, trunk, tree, stock, stirps, pedigree, lineage, line, family, tribe, sept, race, clan, genealogy, descent, extraction, birth, ancestry, forefathers, forbears, patriarchs, motherhood, maternity, mother, dam, mamma, materfamilias, grandmother, paternal, parental, maternal, family, ancestral, linear, patriarchal, avi numerantur avorum, happy he with such a mother, hombre bueno no le busquen abolengo, philosophia stemma non inspicit.
N woman, she, her, female, petticoat, feminality, muliebrity, womanhood, womankind, the sex, the fair, fair sex, softer sex, weaker vessel, dame, madam, madame, mistress, Mrs, lady, donna belle, matron, dowager, goody, gammer, Frau, frow, Vrouw, rani, good woman, good wife, squaw, wife, matronage, matronhood, bachelor girl, new woman, feminist, suffragette, suffragist, nymph, wench, grisette, girl, sissy, betty, cot betty, cotquean, henhussy, mollycoddle, muff, old woman, hen, bitch, sow, doe, roe, mare, she goat, Nanny goat, tabita, ewe, cow, lioness, tigress, vixen, gynecaeum, estrogen, oestrogen, consanguinity &c, paternity, lesbian, dyke, female, she-, feminine, womanly, ladylike, matronly, maidenly, wifely, womanish, effeminate, unmanly, gynecic, gynaecic, Pron, she, her, hers, ', a perfect woman nobly planned, a lovely lady garmented in white, das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan, earth's noblest thing, a woman perfected, es de vidrio la mujer, she moves a goddess and she looks a queen, the beauty of a lovely woman is like music, varium et mutabile semper femina, woman is the lesser man.