mither

English

WOTD – 21 July 2012

Etymology 1

Late 17th century, unknown origin, possibly Welsh moedro to worry or bother. Possible alternative from the Welsh meidda (“to beg for whey”) or perhaps meiddio (“to dare or venture”). Bear in mind that the "dd" in Welsh corresponds in sound to the "th" in mither, and English also has moider and moither.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪðəɹ/

Verb

mither (third-person singular simple present mithers, present participle mithering, simple past and past participle mithered)

1. (intransitive, Northern England) To make an unnecessary fuss, moan, bother.
2. (transitive) To pester or irritate someone. Usually directed at children.

   Will you stop mithering me!

Translations

intransitive: to mither

• Interlingua: preoccupar se de bagatelas
• Portuguese: fazer queixume

• Russian: раздража́ть (ru) (razdražátʹ)

transitive to mither

• Dutch: lastigvallen (nl)
• Interlingua: importunar

• Portuguese: importunar (pt)
• Russian: докуча́ть (ru) (dokučátʹ), донима́ть (ru) (donimátʹ)

Etymology 2

Late variant of Old English mōdor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪðəɹ/

Noun

mither (plural mithers)

1. (Scotland and Northern England) mother

Anagrams

• hermit

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Norman

Etymology

From Old French mirer (“to look at; to watch”), from Latin mīror, mīrārī (“be amazed at”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Verb

mither

1. (Jersey, reflexive, s'mither) to look at oneself in the mirror

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Scots

Alternative forms

• medder
• midder (Shetland)
• mideer
• moder (archaic)
• moeder

Etymology

From Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɪðər]
• (Mid Northern Scots, Shetlandic) IPA^(key): [ˈmɪdər]

Noun

mither (plural mithers)

1. mother

Derived terms

• clocks-mither (“a hen with chickens”)
• grandmither (“grandmother”)
• guid-mither (“mother-in-law”)
• mither-brither (“maternal uncle”)
• mither tongue (“mother tongue, native language”)
• mither wit (“native wit”)