mother
UK /ˈmʌð.ə/ · US /ˈmʌðɚ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms mothers mothering mothered mither mutha
- noun A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, fostered, etc). “I am visiting my mother any moment.”
- noun A pregnant female; mother-to-be; a female who gestates a baby. “Nutrients and oxygen obtained by the mother are conveyed to the fetus.”
- noun A female who donates a fertilized egg or donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone.
- noun (figuratively) A female ancestor.
- noun (figuratively) A source or origin. “The Mediterranean was mother to many cultures and languages.”
- noun Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. (See mother of all.)
- noun (dated, when followed by a surname) A title of respect for one's mother-in-law. “Mother Smith, meet my cousin, Doug Jones.”
- noun (dated) A term of address for one's wife.
- verb (chiefly transitive) To give birth to or produce (as its female parent) a child. (Compare father.)
- verb (transitive) To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.
- verb (transitive) To cause to contain mother (“that substance which develops in fermenting alcohol and turns it into vinegar”). “mothered oil, mothered vinegar, mothered wine”
- verb (intransitive, of an alcohol) To develop mother.
- noun (euphemistic, mildly vulgar, slang) Motherfucker.
- noun (euphemistic, colloquial) A striking example. (Appears as "mother of a(n) __".)
- proper noun (dated) One's mother.
- proper noun (Wicca) 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 A title given to a nun or a priestess.
- noun A title given to the personification of a force of nature or abstract concept, such as Mother Nature, Mother Russia, or Mother Earth.
Synonyms
biological mother matrix Big One father grandfather granddaddy matron matriarch metro- dam mater Colloquial or slang synonyms: ma mam mama mamaw mamma mammaw mammy mamsie female parent fuss overprotect beget get engender sire generate bring forth
Antonyms
Etymology
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.
From Middle English modren, from the noun (see above).
Clipping of motherfucker.
Coined from moth by analogy to mouser.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne a child.
- noun That which has produced or nurtured anything; source of birth or origin; generatrix.
- adjective Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of a mother; producing others; originating.
- verb To adopt as a son or daughter; to perform the duties of a mother to. The queen, to have put lady Elizabeth besides the crown, would have mothered another body's child. Howell.
Etymology [OE. moder, AS. modor; akin to D. moeder, OS. modar, G. mutter, OHG. muotar, Icel. moedhir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ. mate, Ir. & Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr. mh`thr, Skr. matrs; cf. Skr. ma to measure. *268. Cf. Material, Matrix, Metropolis, Father.]
Etymology [Akin to D. modder mud, G. moder mold, mud, Dan. mudder mud, and to E. mud. See Mud.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mother”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details