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Added 9 October 2026

mother

/ˈmʌð.ə/ noun

In Latin: māter, genetrīx Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about mother at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, fostered, etc).
I am visiting my mother any moment.
A pregnant female; mother-to-be; a female who gestates a baby.
Nutrients and oxygen obtained by the mother are conveyed to the fetus.
A female who donates a fertilized egg or donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone.

verb

To give birth to or produce (as its female parent) a child.
To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.
To cause to contain mother (“that substance which develops in fermenting alcohol and turns it into vinegar”).
mothered oil, mothered vinegar, mothered wine

noun

Motherfucker.
A striking example. (Appears as "mother of a(n) __".)

noun

Alternative form of moth-er.

Origin

From Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-West Germanic *mōder, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Doublet of Madeira, mata, mater, matrix, and matter. Some have proposed that the "dregs" sense is from Middle Dutch modder (“filth”), from Proto-Germanic *muþraz (“sediment”), but modder is not known in this meaning. On the other hand, words for "mother" have developed the secondary sense of "dregs" in several Romance and Germanic languages; compare Dutch moer, French mère de vinaigre, German Essigmutter, Italian madre, Medieval Latin māter, and Spanish madre.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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