motherly

English

Etymology

From Middle English moderly, from Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), equivalent to mother +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmʌðəli/

Adjective

motherly (comparative more motherly, superlative most motherly)

1. Befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving.
   • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

     Clover was a stout motherly mare approaching middle life.

Derived terms

• motherliness

Translations

befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving

• Albanian: amënor (sq)
• Armenian: մայրական (hy) (mayrakan)
• Danish: moderlig
• Finnish: äidillinen (fi)
• German: mütterlich (de)
• Hebrew: אִמָּהִי
• Hungarian: anyai (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: materno (it)
• Korean: 자애롭다 (ko) (jaaeropda)
• Lithuanian: motiniškas
• Persian: مادرانه (fa) (mâdarâne)
• Polish: matczyny (pl), macierzyński (pl)
• Swedish: moderlig (sv)