Mother Goose

American  

noun

1. the fictitious author of a collection of nursery rhymes first published in London (about 1760) under the title of Mother Goose's Melody.

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Mother Goose British  

noun

1. the imaginary author of the collection of nursery rhymes published in 1781 in London as Mother Goose's Melody

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Etymology

Origin of Mother Goose

C18: translated from French Contes de ma mère l'Oye (1697), title of a collection of tales by Charles Perrault (1628–1703), French author

Example Sentences

Marianne used Mother Goose books to teach her mother English.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

Still, many, such as a Mother Goose area, would pop-up and then disappear from the maps.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2025

Others followed, including Azucena in “Il trovatore” and Dame Quickly in “Falstaff” by Giuseppe Verdi, Herodias in “Salome” by Richard Strauss, Mother Goose in “The Rake’s Progress” by Igor Stravisnky and many others.

From Seattle Times • May 7, 2023

Like other pantomimes - classic Christmas productions in Britain - "Mother Goose" promises plenty of laughs for audiences of all ages.

From Reuters • Oct. 3, 2022

Kyle went into the Children’s Room, where kids were reading books with their moms and dads or watching a puppet show or listening to a storyteller or singing along with Mother Goose and her goslings.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein