mother

Meaning

Noun

1. A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, or fostered).
2. A female who has given birth to a baby; this person in relation to her child or children.
3. A pregnant female; mother-to-be; a female who gestates a baby.
4. A female who donates a fertilized egg or donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone.
5. (figuratively) A female ancestor.
6. (figuratively) A source or origin.
7. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. (See mother of all.)
8. (dated) A title of respect for one's mother-in-law.
9. (dated) A term of address for one's wife.
10. (figuratively) Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community.
11. (figuratively) Any person or entity which performs mothering.
12. Dregs, lees; a stringy, mucilaginous or film- or membrane-like substance (consisting of a culture of acetobacters) which develops in fermenting alcoholic liquids (such as wine, or cider), and turns the alcohol into acetic acid with the help of oxygen from the air.
13. A locomotive which provides electrical power for a slug.
14. The principal piece of an astrolabe, into which the others are fixed.
15. The female superior or head of a religious house; an abbess, etc.
16. (obsolete) Hysterical passion; hysteria; the uterus.
17. A disc produced from the electrotyped master, used in manufacturing phonograph records.
18. A person who is admired, respected, or looked up to within a particular fandom or community; see also: serve cunt

Verb

1. (transitive) To give birth to or produce (as its female parent) a child. (Compare father.)
2. (transitive) To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.
3. (transitive) To cause to contain mother (“that substance which develops in fermenting alcohol and turns it into vinegar”).
4. (intransitive) To develop mother.

Synonyms

mom

👩‍🍼

mother’s sister

mum

aunt

mama

parent

female parent

mummy

father

👨‍👦

mamma

mommy

👩‍🍼

mater

ma

parents

momma

progenitress

maternal

bring forth

woman

👩

generate

engender

lady

beget

overprotect

good woman

get

uncle

wife

👰‍♀️

new

🆕

fuss

sire

my mother

mammy

mother-in-law

madam

motherly

progenitrix

ding

dew

deliver

dam

beginning

charge

burrito

🌯

bear

🐻

Ghana

🇬🇭

bud

germinate

brothers

bash

Translations

mère

👩‍🍼

Mutter

👩‍🍼

madre

👩‍🍼

madre

👩‍🍼

mãe

👩‍🍼

moeder

👩‍🍼

mare

👩‍🍼

μητέρα

anne

👩‍🍼

mater

👩‍🍼

mamma

👩‍🍼

μάνα

dayik

👩‍🍼

أم

👩‍🍼

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmʌðə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: moder

Inherited from Old English: mōdor

Cognate with Dutch: moer

Cognate with French: mère de vinaigre

Cognate with German: Essigmutter

Cognate with Italian: madre

Cognate with Spanish: madre

Inherited from Middle English: modren

In summary

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr
Proto-Germanic *mōdēr
Proto-West Germanic *mōder
Old English mōdor
Middle English moder
English mother
From Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-West Germanic *mōder, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Doublet of Madeira, mata, mater, matrix, and matter.
Some have proposed that the "dregs" sense is from Middle Dutch modder (“filth”), from Proto-Germanic *muþraz (“sediment”), but modder is not known in this meaning. On the other hand, words for "mother" have developed the secondary sense of "dregs" in several Romance and Germanic languages; compare Dutch moer, French mère de vinaigre, German Essigmutter, Italian madre, Medieval Latin māter, and Spanish madre.

Sentences

She was raised by her widowed mother and an older sister .

" Hunches ," his mother used to call them .

During his childhood he was coached and trained by his mother and grandmother .

I wonder what's keeping mother ?

His two unmarried sisters and widowed mother came with them .

His mother , Judith Kennedy , was raised in an orphanage in Nenagh, County Tipperary , Ireland .