paternity
/pəˈtəːnɪti
/noun [mass noun]
1(Especially in legal contexts) the state of being someone’s father: he refused to admit paternity of the child...
- If these rules on paternity lead to the identification of a legal father, then any other claimant will be excluded.
- The Child Support Agency and the Courts don't distinguish between married or single fathers if the father admits paternity.
- Inclusion of the man's name on the birth register as the child's father is prima facie evidence of his paternity.
Synonyms
fatherhood
rare fathership
2Paternal origin: his enemies made great play of the supposed dubiety of his paternity
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French paternité, from late Latin paternitas, from paternus 'relating to a father'.
Rhymes
- social audit
- social benefit
- social butterfly
- social capital
- social care
- social casework
- social caseworker
- social causation
- social center
- social centre
- social change
- social chapter
- social character
- social charter
- social chauvinism
- social chauvinist
- social class
- social cleansing
- social climb
- social climber
- social climbing
- social column
- social columnist
- social commentary
- social commentator