mother

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmʌð.ə/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmʌðɚ/ (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈmɐð.ə/, /ˈmað.ə/ (Northern England) IPA(key): /ˈmʊð.ə/ (Ireland) IPA(key): /ˈmʊð.əɹ/ (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA(key): /ˈmʌð.əɹ/ Hyphenation: moth‧er Rhymes: -ʌðə(ɹ) === Etymology 1 === 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. ==== Alternative forms ==== mither (Scotland and Northern England) ==== Noun ==== mother (plural mothers) A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, fostered, etc). Hyponym: matron A pregnant female; mother-to-be; a female who gestates a baby. A female who donates a fertilized egg or donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone. Synonym: biological mother (figuratively) A female ancestor. Coordinate term: matriarch (figuratively) A source or origin. Near-synonym: matrix Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. (See mother of all.) Near-synonym: Big One 1991, January 17, Saddam Hussein, Broadcast on Baghdad state radio. The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun. (dated, when followed by a surname) A title of respect for one's mother-in-law. (dated) A term of address for one's wife. (figuratively) Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community. Near-synonyms: matron, matriarch (figuratively) Any person or entity which performs mothering. Hypernym: parent Hyponym: surrogate mother Judges 5:7, KJV. The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. Galatians 4:26, KJV. Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 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. Hyponyms: mother of vinegar; starter (rail transport) A locomotive which provides electrical power for a slug. The principal piece of an astrolabe, into which the others are fixed. The female superior or head of a religious house; an abbess, etc. (obsolete) Hysterical passion; hysteria; the uterus. A disc produced from the electrotyped master, used in manufacturing phonograph records. Hypernym: master copy (Stan Twitter, originally drag slang) A person who is admired, respected, or looked up to within a particular fandom or community; see also: serve cunt ===== Synonyms ===== (one’s female parent): See also Thesaurus:mother (most significant thing): father, grandfather, granddaddy (of or pertaining to the mother, such as metropolis): metro- ===== Antonyms ===== (with regards to gender) father (with regards to ancestry) daughter, son, child, offspring ===== Hypernyms ===== (a female parent): parent ===== Coordinate terms ===== (a female parent): father ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== Australian Kriol: motha → Japanese: マザー (mazā) → Korean: 마더 (madeo) ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From Middle English modren, from the noun (see above). ==== Verb ==== mother (third-person singular simple present mothers, present participle mothering, simple past and past participle mothered) (chiefly transitive) To give birth to or produce (as its female parent) a child. (Compare father.) (transitive) To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture. (transitive) To cause to contain mother (“that substance which develops in fermenting alcohol and turns it into vinegar”). (intransitive, of an alcohol) To develop mother. ===== Translations ===== ==== References ==== American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company 2003. === Etymology 3 === Clipping of motherfucker. ==== Alternative forms ==== mutha ==== Noun ==== mother (plural mothers) (euphemistic, mildly vulgar, slang) Motherfucker. (euphemistic, colloquial) A striking example. (Appears as "mother of a(n) __".) ===== Synonyms ===== MF, mofo, motherfucker, mutha ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 4 === Coined from moth by analogy to mouser. ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /ˈmɒθə(ɹ)/ ==== Noun ==== mother (plural mothers) Alternative form of moth-er. ==== References ==== === Further reading === Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “mother”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. === Anagrams === thermo- == Middle English == === Noun === mother (Late Middle English) alternative form of moder == Scots == === Noun === mother alternative form of mither === References === “mother, n.1.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.