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

See Examples For:

Mother Goose

Its name is inspired by the nursery rhyme Old Mother Goose, reflecting the idea of an ancient goose emerging from the mud of a fossil deposit.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

Marianne used Mother Goose books to teach her mother English.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

But since the TK expansion began last year, she said, all but one of her 4-year-old students who pay privately have left Mother Goose for TK.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2023

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

From the doorway she could hear Old Mother Goose honking over her gosling.

From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson