filial, a.
(ˈfɪlɪəl)
Also 6 feliall, fyliall, 6–7 filiall.
[ad. late L. fīliāl-is, f. fīli-us son. Cf. F. filial.]
1. Of or pertaining to a son or daughter. a. Of sentiments, duty, etc.: Due from a child to a parent. filial fear: see fear n.1 3 d.
| 1393 Langl. P.Pl. C. ix. 216 Ys no final [v.r. filial] loue with þis folke. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 700/1 Christen people receiue the spirit of feliall loue. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 306 Disciplin'd..from servil fear To filial. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. I. vii. 494 James had hitherto treated his mother with filial respect. 1834 H. Martineau Demerara xii, Now her filial cares were ended. 1857 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Poets II. xi. 67 The filial piety of her children for poor auld Scotland. |
† b. That is the due of a son or daughter.
Obs.| 1558 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 175, I giue to my said Sonne Rob'rt in full contentacion & payment of his fyliall porcion..of all my goodes. 1635 Quarles Embl. ii. xv. (1718) 121 At length corrected by the filial rod Of his offended, but his gracious God. 1795 Wythe Decis. Virginia 6 The sum of the plaintiff Mary's filial portion. |
c. Of a relation, designation, etc.: Characteristic of a son or daughter.
| 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 150 The primitive Christians did..include this filial title of our Saviour together with his names into the compass of one word. |
| transf. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. (1875) I. iii. 52 The foundation of new villages..standing in a filial relation to the original settlement. |
2. a. ‘Bearing the character or relation of a son or daughter’ (J.) Now only
transf. and
fig. of a thing: That is the offspring of something else.
filial generation Biol., the offspring of a cross, the
first filial (or F1) generation being the immediate offspring of the organisms selected for crossing, the
second filial (or F2) generation being produced usually by self-fertilisation or intercrossing of F
1 individuals, and so on.
| 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 722 Thus the filial Godhead answering spake. a 1711 Ken Psyche Wks. 1721 IV. 185 Paternal God gave filial God to die. 1718 Prior Celia to Damon 102 Where the old Myrtle her good Influence sheds; Sprigs of like Leaf erect their Filial Heads. 1762 tr. Busching's Syst. Geog. IV. 213 A collegiate-church, to which..belong four other filial churches. 1889 Times 13 Aug. 3/1 The size of the parent seed was reproduced in the filial seed. 1902 [see F. III. 1 i]. 1909 W. Bateson Mendel's Princ. Heredity i. 8 Mendel took a pair of varieties of which one was tall..and the other was dwarf... These two were then crossed together... In our modern terminology such a cross-bred, the first filial generation, is called F1. 1938 E. B. Ford Study of Heredity ii. 30 If we cross a black bird with a white, all the offspring are grey... These are the ‘first filial’ generation of our cross. Ibid., If we mate the grey F1 birds with one another, we obtain a ‘second filial generation’ (F2). 1969 Dict. Gardening Suppl. (R. Hort. Soc.) 454/2 The plants obtained in this first Hybrid Filial (F1) generation are all tall like one of the parents. |
† b. Entertaining the sentiments of a son or daughter.
Obs. rare.
| 1754 Richardson Grandison V. ii. 20 Your ever affectionate and filial friend. |
† c. absol. (quasi
n.) An off-shoot.
Obs.| 1538 Leland Itin. (1711) VII. 48 The Body of the Cathedral Chyrch [in Carlisle] is of an older Building then the Quyer. And yt ys as a Filial deriveid from S. Oswalds fast by Pontfreyt. 1762 tr. Busching's Syst. Geog. IV. 214 This church is a filial of the parish of St. Veit. |