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mother country

See more synonyms for mother country on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the country of one's birth or ancestry.
  2. the country of origin of settlers or colonists in a place.
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Origin of mother country

First recorded in 1580–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mother country

Historical Examples

  • The plains were fatherland and mother-country, home and kindred, to Tom.

    The Village Watch-Tower

    (AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin

  • It provided the sanction for the break with the mother-country that was contemplated.

  • The quarreling between colonies and the mother-country was an old story.

    A Virginia Scout

    Hugh Pendexter

  • What are you but the small little brat of the mother-country?

  • Accessions from the mother-country were made to their numbers.

British Dictionary definitions for mother country

mother country

noun
  1. the original country of colonists or settlers
  2. another term for fatherland
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012