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Glite Dictionary
to filiate

to filiate

9.9
To say by law who the father of a child is
  • verb
  • /ˈfɪliˌeɪt/
  • Formal
: filiar
  • Lawyers filed a petition to filiate the minor based on new DNA evidence.

Examples

  • The court decided to filiate the child after a lengthy hearing.

  • If no man comes forward to filiate the child, the state will intervene.

  • The court will filiate the child to his biological father.

  • She plans to filiate her son legally this year.

  • Lawyers filed a petition to filiate the minor based on new DNA evidence.

  • The court decided to filiate the child after a lengthy hearing.

  • If no man comes forward to filiate the child, the state will intervene.

Surface Forms

filiate infinitive
filiated past
filiated past participle
filiating present participle
filiates third person singular

Morphology

filiate = fili + ate

The verb is a learned formation from the Latin combining stem 'fili-' plus the verb-forming suffix '-ate'; 'fili' is not a standalone English word, so learners cannot reliably derive the meaning from familiar English components.

Etymology

Filiate comes from the Latin root filius, which means 'son' or 'child', and you can also see this root in the English word filial. So to filiate someone is to legally say they are a child's father, which is why the word is used for recognizing paternity.