English Explanatory Dictionary

mother

English dictionary entry

Meanings

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. A female ancestor.
  6. A source or origin.
  7. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. (See mother of all.)
  8. A title of respect for one's mother-in-law.
  9. A term of address for one's wife.
  10. Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community.
  11. 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.
verb
  1. To give birth to or produce (as its female parent) a child. (Compare father.)
  2. To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.
  3. To cause to contain mother (“that substance which develops in fermenting alcohol and turns it into vinegar”).
  4. To develop mother.
noun
  1. Motherfucker.
  2. A striking example. (Appears as "mother of a(n) __".)
noun
  1. Alternative form of moth-er.
name
  1. One's mother.
  2. One of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Crone and Maiden and representing a woman older than a girlish Maiden but younger than an aged Crone.
noun
  1. A title given to a nun or a priestess.
  2. A title given to the personification of a force of nature or abstract concept, such as Mother Nature, Mother Russia, or Mother Earth.

Pronunciation

/ˈmʌð.ə/ en-uk-mother.ogg /ˈmʌðɚ/ en-us-mother.ogg /ˈmɐð.ə/ /ˈmað.ə/ en-au-mother.ogg /ˈmʊð.ə/ /ˈmʊð.əɹ/ /ˈmʌð.əɹ/ /ˈmɒθə(ɹ)/

Word forms

mother mothers mither mothering mothered mutha

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

dam mater matriarch mother Colloquial or slang synonyms: ma mam mama mamaw mamma mammaw mammy mamsie mamsy meemaw memaw minnie mom moms momma mommy momsy motherling mum mummy mumsy old lady mutha biological mother matrix Big One father grandfather granddaddy matron metro- MF mofo motherfucker Goddess

Antonyms

father daughter son child offspring

Related words

material maternal maternity matriculate matrimony matrix matter materfamilias Father Mother Nature Mother Russia

Derived words

adoptive mother allomother and his mother antimother baby mother babymother beemother bee mother be mother biomother birth mother birthmother bonus mother brother from another mother bunny mother camp mother co-mother co-mother-in-law corn mother cow-mother den mother do you kiss your mother with that mouth drag mother earth mother eldermother eldmother everybody and his mother everybody and their mother everyone and his mother everyone and their mother face only a mother could love face that only a mother could love foremother foster mother founding mother fuck your mother godmother go fuck your mother gold star mother go tell your mother she wants you grandmother great-grandmother holy mother of based housemother kangaroo mother care like a mother hawk manther megaspore mother cell mermother milf milk mother milk-mother mismother mother abscess mother and baby unit mother-bird motherboard mother bomb mother cell Mother Christmas

Translations

Aari: ʔindi Abkhaz: ан Acehnese: ma Acehnese: mak Afar: ina Afrikaans: moeder Afrikaans: ma Aghwan: 𐕎𐔴 Casiguran Dumagat Agta: ína Ainu: ハポ Akan: ɛna Akkadian: 𒂼 Aklanon: ina Albanian: nënë Albanian: ija Albanian: mëmë Aleut: anax Southern Altai: эне Alviri-Vidari: ننه American Sign Language: 5@Chin-ThumbBack Contact Amharic: እናት Amis: ina Andi: ила Chiricahua: -má Western Apache: bimaa Western Apache: bąą Western Apache: -maa Western Apache: bąąhi Western Apache: -máá Arabic: أُمّ Arabic: وَالِدَة Arabic: مَامَا Arabic: ماما Arabic: أم Arabic: والدة Arabic: إم Aragonese: mai Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܝܸܡܵܐ Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܝܵܠܘܿܕܬܵܐ Aramaic: ܐܡܐ Aramaic: ܝܠܘܕܬܐ Aramaic: אִמָּא Araona: kwala Araona: wadi Araona: waepei Araona: mama Armenian: մայր Armenian: մամա Armenian: մայրիկ Aromanian: mamã Aromanian: mumã Eastern Arrernte: meye Asilulu: ina Assamese: মা Assamese: আই Asturian: madre Asturian: ma Australian Kriol: motha Avar: эбел Avar: баба Avar: буба Avestan: 𐬠𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬚𐬭𐬍 Avestan: 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 Aymara: mama Aymara: tayca Azerbaijani: ana validə Azerbaijani: ana Bactrian: μαδο Bakhtiari: دا Balinese: ina Balinese: biyang
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