# godmother

Pronunciation: US say "GOD-muh-thur" /ˈɡɑdmʌðɚ/; UK say "GOD-mu-thuh" /ˈɡɒdmʌðə/

## Noun

1. A woman who sponsors a child's baptism and promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner; a female godparent.
   - Simple: A woman who promises at a baby's baptism to help raise the child as a Christian.
   - _At the christening, the godmother held the baby while the priest recited the blessing._
   - _She asked her college roommate to be the baby's godmother at next month's baptism._

## Verb

2. To act as godmother to; to take on the role of godmother for a child.
   - Simple: To be a godmother to a child and help care for them.
   - _She felt honored when the couple asked her to godmother their daughter._
   - _Over the years, Maria godmothered three of her cousins' children._

## Origin

From Middle English godmoder, from Old English godmōdor, formed from 'god-' plus 'mother'. It is cognate with Old High German gotmuoter, Old Norse guðmóðir, Swedish gudmoder, and Danish gudmor.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/godmother (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).