Origin: Latin suffix -al
Parental has 4 different meanings across 1 category:
A person fulfilling a parental role.
"After losing his own children, he stepped into a parental role to care for the orphaned boy."
In plain English: Parental refers to things related to parents, such as their rights and responsibilities toward their children.
"The teacher asked for parental signatures on every permission slip before the field trip."
designating the generation of organisms from which hybrid offspring are produced
"The researcher crossed two distinct plant species to study the parental characteristics in their hybrid seeds."
of or relating to a parent
"The parental advice they received helped guide their young children through difficult decisions."
In plain English: Parental means relating to parents, their duties, or how they raise children.
"The parental guidance label on the movie meant that children needed an adult to watch it with them."
From Middle French parental, from Latin parentālis, from parens ("parent").