mother

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

Wikipedia has an article on:

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[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr (cf. East Frisian muur, Dutch moeder, German Mutter), from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (cf. Irish máthair, Tocharian A mācar, B mācer, Lithuanian mótė).

[edit] Noun

a mother and her baby
a mother cat and kittens

mother (plural mothers)

  1. A (human) female who (a) parents a child or (b) gives birth to a baby. Sometimes used in reference to a pregnant female, possibly as a shortened form of mother-to-be (c).
    (a) I am visiting my mother today.
    • 1988, Robert Ferro, Second Son
      He had something of his mother in him, but this was because he realized that in the end only her love was unconditional, and in gratitude he had emulated her.
    (b) My sister-in-law has just become a mother.
    (c) Nutrients and oxygen obtained by the mother are conveyed to the fetus.
    • 1991, Susan Faludi, The Undeclared War Against American Women
      The antiabortion iconography in the last decade featured the fetus but never the mother.
  2. A female parent of an animal.
    The lioness was a mother of four cubs.
  3. (figuratively) A female ancestor.
  4. (figuratively) A source or origin, viewed affectionately.
    The Mediterranean was mother to many cultures and languages.
  5. (when followed by a surname) A title of respect for one's mother-in-law.
    Mother Smith, meet my cousin, Doug Jones.
  6. (figuratively) Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community
    • Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother. –Mark 3:35, NIV.
  7. (figuratively) Any person or entity which performs mothering.
    • The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. –Judges 5:7, KJV.
    • Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. –Galatians 4:26, KJV.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Hypernyms
[edit] Coordinate terms
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from mother (noun)
[edit] Translations
female (human) who parents a child, gives birth to a baby, or is pregnant
one’s female parent
Title of respect for one's mother-in-law
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Verb

mother (third-person singular simple present mothers, present participle mothering, simple past and past participle mothered)

  1. (transitive) To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.
[edit] Translations
to treat as a mother would be expected to

[edit] References

[edit] Etymology 2

Calque of Arabic أم (’umm, mother).

[edit] Noun

mother (plural mothers)

  1. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.
    "The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun." — Saddam Hussein
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
something that is the greatest of its kind

[edit] Etymology 3

Shortened from motherfucker

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Noun

mother (plural mothers)

  1. (euphemistic, vulgar, slang) motherfucker.
  2. (euphemistic, colloquial) A striking example.
    • 1964, Richard L. Newhafer, The last tallyho:
      November, 1943 If ever, Cortney Anders promised himself, I get out of this mother of a thunderstorm there is a thing I will do if it is the last act of my life.
    • 1980, Chester Anderson, Fox & hare: the story of a Friday night‎, page 5:
      Some hot night there's gonna be one mother of a riot down here. Just wait." He'd been saying the same thing since 1958, five years of crying wolf.
    • 2004,, Rajnar Vajra, “The Ghost Within”, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, volume 124, page 8: 
      Basically, we wind up with a program. One mother of a complex application.
    • 2006, Elizabeth Robinson, The true and outstanding adventures of the Hunt sisters:
      Josh, whose fleshy face resembles a rhino's - beady wide-set eyes blinking between a mother of a snout
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations
motherfucker — see motherfucker

[edit] Statistics

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