mother country

noun

1. the country of one's birth or ancestry.

2. the country of origin of settlers or colonists in a place.

mother country

noun

1. the original country of colonists or settlers

2. another term for fatherland

Word History and Origins

Origin of mother country¹

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

For 300 years, New Spain remained the glittering jewel in the Spanish crown, enriching the mother country and shaping world history.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Furthermore, the Massachusetts colony stood alone among the English colonies as well as from the mother country, whose king threatened to withdraw his royal charter should the Puritans persist in their course.

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Such hyphenated Americans, he said, felt a “degree of accepted and reasonable pride,” and had succeeded in connecting “their heritage to their mother country” and also to “where they are now” in America.

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“The Black volunteers had learned a lot about Britain at school and most considered that they were in a real sense ‘coming home’ to the mother country,” according to an exhibit at the RAF Museum.

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In turn, their admissions to international cricket and subsequent first victories over the ‘mother country’ of England came freighted with meaning.

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