mother house

noun Roman Catholic Church.

a convent housing a mother superior of a community of nuns.
a self-governing convent having authority over other houses.

Origin of mother house

First recorded in 1665–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mother house

Historical Examples of mother house

The mother-house at Strasburg is one of the oldest ones, dating from 1842.
Deaconesses in Europe
Jane M. Bancroft
The Sisters had also the pleasure of visiting the mother-house of their Order in Paris.
The Greater Love
George T. McCarthy
It contains the mother-house of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 7
Various
Already it had spread from the mother-house of San Giovanni in Fiore, and numbered several other monasteries.
A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume III
Henry Charles Lea
Almost contemporary with the mother-house arose the normal school for infant-school teachers.
Deaconesses in Europe
Jane M. Bancroft