# mother

Pronunciation: US say "MUTH-ur" /ˈmʌðɚ/; say "MUTH-uh" UK /ˈmʌðə/, AUS /ˈmɐðə/

## Noun

1. A female parent: a woman who has given birth to, is expecting, adopted, or raises a child.
   - Simple: A woman who has given birth to, adopted or brought up a child, or who is going to have a baby.
   - _My mother still calls me every Sunday evening._
   - _Her mother lives just around the corner and often helps with the kids._
2. A source or origin from which something else arises.
   - Simple: The thing that something else comes from or grows out of.
   - _Many scholars treat the Nile as the mother of Egyptian civilization._
   - _Hardship can be the mother of remarkable creativity._
3. Any person or entity that performs the role of mothering.
   - Simple: A person or thing that cares for others the way a mother would.
   - _The charity acted as a mother to families left homeless by the flood._
   - _To the stray kittens, the old farm cat became a devoted mother._
5. The woman who presides over a religious community or house, as an abbess or prioress does.
   - Simple: The woman who leads a convent or other religious house.
   - _Mother Superior granted the sisters permission to travel for the pilgrimage._
   - _The novices lined up to greet the Reverend Mother, who had led the convent for thirty years._
6. The greatest, biggest, or most striking example of something, usually in 'the mother of all' or 'the mother of a'.
   - Simple: The biggest or most amazing example of something, as in the mother of all storms.
   - _The general promised the mother of all battles before the campaign began._
   - _Their merger became the mother of all corporate deals that decade._
7. A female ancestor from whom a line is descended.
   - Simple: A woman from whom a family or people are descended.
   - _Scientists trace every living person's mitochondrial DNA back to one ancient mother._
   - _The clan's songs honor the mother of their line, a woman who lived centuries ago._
9. A clipped, softened form of "motherfucker", used for a person or thing regarded with contempt, awe, or grudging respect. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A rude short form of a stronger swear word, used for a person or thing.
   - _Crank that mother up to full volume!_
   - _The tough old mother just wouldn't back down in a fight._
10. A person who is admired, respected, or looked up to within a particular fandom or community. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person that fans really admire and look up to.
   - _On social media, fans hailed the singer as mother after her stunning awards-night performance._
   - _Fans screamed 'Mother!' as the singer stepped onto the stage._
11. A slimy film of cellulose, acetic acid bacteria and sometimes yeast that forms on fermenting wine or cider and, using oxygen from the air, turns the alcohol into vinegar.
   - Simple: A jelly-like layer of helpful bacteria that forms in wine or cider and turns it into vinegar.
   - _Over several weeks a pale mother thickened across the surface of the unfinished wine._
   - _Home brewers often share a piece of mother to kick-start vinegar fermentation in fresh cider._
12. Any woman of advanced age, particularly one belonging to a specific community.
   - Simple: An older woman who is respected in her community.
   - _The church mothers, all in their eighties, sat together in the front pew._
   - _The young pastor never changed a hymn without first asking Mother Wilson, the congregation's oldest member._
13. A woman whose egg, or a body cell in cloning, supplies the genetic material of a child or clone; a genetic mother.
   - Simple: A woman whose egg or cell gives a baby or a clone its genes.
   - _The genetic mother provided the egg, while a surrogate carried the pregnancy._
   - _Every cell in the clone traces back to one body cell from the mother._

## Verb

4. To care for and nurture someone as a mother would be expected to treat her child.
   - Simple: To care for and protect someone the way a loving mother would.
   - _She mothered her younger siblings after their parents died._
   - _He felt smothered by colleagues who tried to mother him at work._
8. To give birth to or produce a child as its female parent.
   - Simple: To give birth to a child, or to produce one as its female parent.

## Noun

14. A dated term of address that a husband uses for his wife. *(dated)*
   - Simple: An old-fashioned way for a husband to speak to his wife.
   - _'What do you think, Mother?' the old farmer asked his wife across the table._
   - _He patted his wife's hand and said, 'Don't fret, Mother, the harvest will come in.'_
15. A respectful title for one's mother-in-law, especially when used before her surname. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A respectful way to address your husband's or wife's mother, often used with her last name.
   - _'Welcome home, Mother Davenport,' the new bride said, taking her mother-in-law's coat._
   - _After the wedding, she wrote to her husband's mother, opening with 'Dear Mother Hayes.'_
16. Hysteria or uncontrolled emotional passion; also the uterus, once believed to be its source. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Uncontrolled emotional distress once thought to come from the womb, or the womb itself.

## Other meanings

- (verb) Of wine, cider, or other alcoholic liquid, to develop mother and turn to vinegar, or to be made to do so.
- (noun) A metal disc produced from the electrotyped master, used to make the stampers that press phonograph records.
- (noun) A locomotive that provides electrical power to a slug, an unpowered unit used for extra traction.
- (noun) The chief component of an astrolabe, serving as the frame in which its other pieces are set.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–7, 10–16** — Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr developed into Proto-Germanic *mōdēr and Proto-West Germanic *mōder, then Old English mōdor and Middle English moder. Mater and matrix are among its doublets. The "dregs" sense has parallels, since words for "mother" took on that secondary meaning in several Romance and Germanic languages.
**Meanings 4, 8** — From Middle English modren, formed from the noun "mother."
**Meaning 9** — A clipping of "motherfucker."

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