mither

English

WOTD – 21 July 2012

Etymology 1

Late 17th century, of unknown origin;

• Possibly allied to Welsh moedro (“to worry or bother”), though according to the GPC, the latter is borrowed from English.
• Alternatively, possibly tied to Welsh meidda (“to beg for whey”), from maidd (“whey”).
• Perhaps from Welsh meiddio (“to dare or venture”), a variant of beiddio (“to dare”).

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.

   The European Commission is pondering how to compel phone companies to come up with a universal plug for their chargers. Apple, which uses its own design for its charger cables, is mithering about the change. ("The parable of the plug", The Economist, 6 February 2020)

2. (transitive, Northern England) 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

Variant from Middle English muther, muthir, from Old English mōdor (“mother”). More at mother.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪðəɹ/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

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.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

mither (plural mithers)

1. mother
   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

     'There you gang,' she cries, 'broking wi' thae wearifu' Pharisees o' Caulds, whae daurna darken your mither's door! A bonnie dutiful child, quotha! Wumman, hae ye nae pride, or even the excuse o' a tinkler-lass?'

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”)