mother

¹

[ muhth-er ]

noun

1. a woman who has borne offspring; a female parent.
2. Often Mother. one’s own female parent:

   I should give Mother a call today.

   Our mother did not approve of many of the shenanigans we got up to.

3. a mother-in-law, stepmother, foster mother, female adoptive parent, or female guardian.
4. Usually Mother. a term of address for a female parent or a woman having or regarded as having the status, function, or authority of a female parent:

   Thank you for coming, Mother.

5. a woman providing care or exercising influence or authority like that of a female parent:

   The elderly widow next door was a mother to him.

6. the qualities characteristic of a mother, such as maternal affection, protectiveness, responsibility, etc.:

   Sometimes the mother in her comes out and she'll remind her students to drive safely.

7. something that gives rise to something else; origin or source:

   Imagination is the mother of possibility.

8. a woman who originates or creates something:

   Marie Curie was the mother of radiography.

9. Usually Mother. Ecclesiastical. a title of respect for certain female church leaders, such as heads of convents, bishops, or priests. mother superior ( def ).
10. Mother, (in Neopaganism) the second form of the Goddess, represented as a mother or middle-aged woman and said to symbolize fertility and the flourishing stages of life and growth. Compare crone ( def 3 ), maiden ( def 3 ).
11. Mother, a title for something personified as an older woman:

    Mother Earth.

12. a term of familiar address for an old or elderly woman.
13. Slang. a euphemism for motherfucker.
14. Audio. (in disk recording) a mold from which stampers are made.

adjective

1. being a female parent:

   I watched as the mother bird fed her baby.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of a mother:

   mother love.

3. learned or acquired from or as if from one's mother; native:

   After emigrating, he never really abandoned his mother culture.

4. bearing a relation like that of a mother, as in being the origin, source, leader, protector, etc.:

   The mother company issues directives to all its affiliates.

   The server is the mother computer for the whole network.

verb (used with object)

1. to be the mother, origin, or source of:

   She mothered two children.

2. to care for or protect like a mother; act maternally toward, sometimes in an excessive way: Stop mothering me!

   It’s in her nature to love and mother those around her.

   Stop mothering me!

   Synonyms: raise, mind, nurse, tend

3. to acknowledge oneself the author of; assume as one's own.

verb (used without object)

1. to perform the tasks or duties of a female parent, sometimes in an excessive way; act maternally:

   She’s always wanted to mother.

mother

²

[ muhth-er ]

noun

1. a stringy, mucilaginous substance consisting of various bacteria, especially Acetobacter aceti, that forms on the surface of a fermenting liquid and converts ethanol to acetic acid, as in changing wine or cider to vinegar.

mother

¹

/ ˈmʌðə /

noun

1. 1. a female who has given birth to offspring
   2. ( as modifier )

      a mother bird

2. often capital, esp as a term of address a person's own mother
3. a female substituting in the function of a mother
4. archaic.
   often capital a term of address for an old woman
5. 1. motherly qualities, such as maternal affection

      it appealed to the mother in her

   2. ( as modifier )

      mother love

   3. ( in combination )

      mothercraft

6. 1. a female or thing that creates, nurtures, protects, etc, something
   2. ( as modifier )

      mother earth

      mother church

7. a title given to certain members of female religious orders

   mother superior

8. Christian Science God as the eternal Principle
9. modifier native or innate

   mother wit

10. offensive.
    short for motherfucker
11. be mother
    to pour the tea

    I'll be mother

12. the mother of all … informal.
    the greatest example of its kind

    the mother of all parties

verb

1. to give birth to or produce
2. to nurture, protect, etc as a mother

mother

²

/ ˈmʌðə /

noun

1. a stringy slime containing various bacteria that forms on the surface of liquids undergoing acetous fermentation. It can be added to wine, cider, etc to promote vinegar formation Also calledmother of vinegar

Derived Forms

• ˈmothering, noun
• ˈmothery, adjective

Other Words From

• moth·er·less adjective
• moth·er·less·ness noun
• moth·er·like adjective
• un·moth·ered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mother¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English mother, moder, Old English mōdor; cognate with Dutch moeder, German Mutter, Old Norse mōthir; akin to Armenian mayr, Greek mḗtēr, mā́tēr, Irish máthair, Latin māter, Latvian māte, Persian mâdar, Russian mat', Sanskrit mātar-

Origin of mother²

First recorded in 1450–1500; probably special use of mother ¹, but perhaps another word, akin to Dutch modder “dregs,” Middle Low German moder “swampy land”; mud

Word History and Origins

Origin of mother¹

Old English mōdor; compare Old Saxon mōdar, Old High German muotar, Latin māter, Greek mētēr

Origin of mother²

C16: perhaps from mother ¹, but compare Spanish madre scum, Dutch modder dregs, Middle Low German modder decaying object, mudde sludge

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. mother of all, the greatest or most notable example of:

   Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has been called the mother of all mystery novels.

More idioms and phrases containing mother

In addition to the idiom beginning with mother , also see necessity is the mother of invention .

Example Sentences

Though a mother of a US citizen who had lived in the US for decades would typically be able to apply for deportation relief, Binam’s conviction and plea deal made her ineligible.

From Vox

In one spot, a mother in Texas shares the story of her son who has leukemia.

From Washington Post

In the same way my mother thought she knew what she would name me before I was born, I thought I knew where I would bury her before she died.

From Nautilus

Quannah Chasing Horse Potts said Mallott never propositioned her and that neither she nor her mother spoke to Downing.

From ProPublica

Psychologists Don Moore, of the University of California, Berkeley, and Max Bazerman of Harvard, call it “the mother of all biases” in their textbook on decision making.

From Quartz

Taraji manages to bring an equal measure of truth to the mother in her character.

From The Daily Beast

Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.

From The Daily Beast

But my sources, my young women and their mother, heroically held firm.

From The Daily Beast

I thought about the mother, her fear of the dark, of the harm she feared might come to her daughters.

From The Daily Beast

Meanwhile two kids were taken from their mother when she flew back to the UK from Turkey.

From The Daily Beast

There was no doubt thought of his own loss in this question: yet there was, one may hope, a germ of solicitude for the mother too.

From Project Gutenberg

"The Smoker," and "Mother and Daughter," a triptych, are two of her principal pictures.

From Project Gutenberg

Now first we shall want our pupil to understand, speak, read and write the mother tongue well.

From Project Gutenberg

The mother's lips could not finish the charge she was about to put upon her innocent child.

From Project Gutenberg

The Authorised Version has: “And as a mother shall she meet him, and receive him as a wife married of a virgin.”

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• mom
• parent