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mother

- 15 dictionary results

moth⋅er

1  [muhth-er]
Use mother in a Sentence
–noun
1. a female parent.
2. (often initial capital letter) one's female parent.
3. a mother-in-law, stepmother, or adoptive mother.
4. a term of address for a female parent or a woman having or regarded as having the status, function, or authority of a female parent.
5. a term of familiar address for an old or elderly woman.
6. mother superior.
7. a woman exercising control, influence, or authority like that of a mother: to be a mother to someone.
8. the qualities characteristic of a mother, as maternal affection: It is the mother in her showing itself.
9. something or someone that gives rise to or exercises protecting care over something else; origin or source.
10. (in disc recording) a mold from which stampers are made.
–adjective
11. being a mother: a mother bird.
12. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a mother: mother love.
13. derived from or as if from one's mother; native: his mother culture.
14. bearing a relation like that of a mother, as in being the origin, source, or protector: the mother company and its affiliates; the mother computer and its network of terminals.
–verb (used with object)
15. to be the mother of; give origin or rise to.
16. to acknowledge oneself the author of; assume as one's own.
17. to care for or protect like a mother; act maternally toward.
–verb (used without object)
18. to perform the tasks or duties of a female parent; act maternally: a woman with a need to mother.
—Idiom
19. mother of all, the greatest or most notable example of: the mother of all mystery novels.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME mother, moder, OE mōdor; c. D moeder, G Mutter, ON mōthir, L māter, Gk mtēr, Skt mātar-. As in father, th was substituted for d, possibly on the model of brother

Related forms:
moth⋅er⋅less, adjective
moth⋅er⋅less⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
17. tend, nurse, mind, raise.

moth⋅er

2  [muhth-er]
–noun
a stringy, mucilaginous substance consisting of various bacteria, esp. Mycoderma aceti, that forms on the surface of a fermenting liquid and causes fermentation when added to other liquids, as in changing wine or cider to vinegar.
Also called mother of vinegar.

Origin:
1530–40; prob. special use of mother 1 , but perh. another word, akin to D modder dregs, MLG moder swampy land; see mud

moth⋅er

3  [muhth-er]
–noun Slang: Vulgar.
1. motherfucker.
2. a person or thing that is very large, powerful, or impressive.
Origin:
1945–50; euphemistic shortening
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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moth·er 1   (mŭth'ər)   
n.  
    1. A female person who is pregnant with or gives birth to a child.
    2. A female person whose egg unites with a sperm, resulting in the conception of a child.
    3. A woman who adopts a child.
    4. A woman who raises a child.
    5. A mother superior.
    6. Used as a form of address for such a woman.
  2. A female parent of an animal.
  3. A female ancestor.
  4. A woman who holds a position of authority or responsibility similar to that of a mother: a den mother.
  5. Roman Catholic Church
    1. A mother superior.
    2. Used as a form of address for such a woman.
  6. A woman who creates, originates, or founds something: "the discovery of radium, which made Marie Curie mother to the Atomic Age" (Alden Whitman).
  7. A creative source; an origin: Philosophy is the mother of the sciences.
  8. Used as a title for a woman respected for her wisdom and age.
  9. Maternal love and tenderness: brought out the mother in her.
  10. The biggest or most significant example of its kind: the mother of all battles.
  11. Vulgar Slang Something considered extraordinary, as in disagreeableness, size, or intensity.
adj.  
  1. Relating to or being mother.
  2. Characteristic of a mother: mother love.
  3. Being the source or origin: the mother church.
  4. Derived from or as if from one's mother; native: one's mother language.
v.   moth·ered, moth·er·ing, moth·ers

v.   tr.
  1. To give birth to; create and produce.
  2. To watch over, nourish, and protect maternally.
v.   intr.
To act or serve as a mother.

[Middle English moder, mother, from Old English mōdor; see māter- in Indo-European roots. N., sense 10, translation of Iraqi Arabic 'umm. N., sense 11, short for motherfucker.]
moth·er 2   (mŭth'ər)   
n.  A stringy slime composed of yeast cells and bacteria that forms on the surface of fermenting liquids and is added to wine or cider to start the production of vinegar.

[Probably alteration (influenced by mother1) of obsolete Dutch moeder, from Middle Dutch, probably from moeder, mother of children; see māter- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Mother

Moth"er\, n. [OE. moder, AS. m[=o]dor; akin to D. moeder, OS. m[=o]dar, G. mutter, OHG. muotar, Icel. m[=o][eth]ir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ. mate, Ir. & Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr. mh`thr, Skr. m[=a]t[.r]; cf. Skr. m[=a] to measure. [root]268. Cf. Material, Matrix, Metropolis, Father.]

1. A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne a child.

2. That which has produced or nurtured anything; source of birth or origin; generatrix.

Alas! poor country! . . . it can not Be called our mother, but our grave. --Shak.

I behold . . . the solitary majesty of Crete, mother of a religion, it is said, that lived two thousand years. --Landor.

3. An old woman or matron. [Familiar]

4. The female superior or head of a religious house, as an abbess, etc.

5. Hysterical passion; hysteria. [Obs.] --Shak.

Mother Carey's chicken (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of small petrels, as the stormy petrel (Procellaria pelagica), and Leach's petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), both of the Atlantic, and O. furcata of the North Pacific.

Mother Carey's goose (Zo["o]l.), the giant fulmar of the Pacific. See Fulmar.

Mother's mark (Med.), a congenital mark upon the body; a n[ae]vus.

Mother

Moth"er\, a. Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of a mother; producing others; originating.

It is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived. --T. Arnold.

Mother cell (Biol.), a cell which, by endogenous divisions, gives rise to other cells (daughter cells); a parent cell.

Mother church, the original church; a church from which other churches have sprung; as, the mother church of a diocese.

Mother country, the country of one's parents or ancestors; the country from which the people of a colony derive their origin.

Mother liquor (Chem.), the impure or complex residual solution which remains after the salts readily or regularly crystallizing have been removed.

Mother queen, the mother of a reigning sovereign; a queen mother.

Mother tongue. (a) A language from which another language has had its origin. (b) The language of one's native land; native tongue.

Mother water. See Mother liquor (above).

Mother wit, natural or native wit or intelligence.

Mother

Moth"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mothered; p. pr. & vb. n. Mothering.] To adopt as a son or daughter; to perform the duties of a mother to.

The queen, to have put lady Elizabeth besides the crown, would have mothered another body's child. --Howell.

Mother

Moth"er\, n. [Akin to D. modder mud, G. moder mold, mud, Dan. mudder mud, and to E. mud. See Mud.] A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation.

Note: The film is composed of a mass of rapidly developing micro["o]rganisms of the genus Mycoderma, and in the mother of vinegar the micro["o]rganisms (Mycoderma aceti) composing the film are the active agents in the Conversion of the alcohol into vinegar. When thickened by growth, the film may settle to the bottom of the fluid. See Acetous fermentation, under Fermentation.

Mother

Moth"er\, v. i. To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as vinegar.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : mother
Spanish: madre,
German: die Mutter; Mutter-…,
Japanese: 母
More Translations »

mother 
O.E. modor, from P.Gmc. *mothær (cf. O.S. modar, Dan. moder, Du. moeder, Ger. Mutter), from PIE *mater- (cf. L. mater, O.Ir. mathir, Lith. mote, Skt. matar-, Gk. meter, O.C.S. mati). Spelling with -th- dates from early 16c., though that pronunciation is probably older. The verb meaning "to take care of" is first recorded 1863. Mother nature first attested 1601; mother earth is from 1586. Mother tongue "one's native language" first attested c.1380. Mother's Day set by act of Congress, May 9, 1908. Mother of all ________ 1991, is Gulf War slang, from Saddam Hueein's use in ref. to the coming battle; it is an Arabic idiom, cf. Ayesha, second wife of Muhammad, known as Mother of Believers. Mother Carey's chickens is late 18c. sailors' nickname for storm petrels, or for snowflakes.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: moth·er
Pronunciation: 'm&th-&r
Function: noun
: a female parent
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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mother moth·er (mŭ&phonth;'ər)
n.

  1. A woman who conceives, gives birth to, or raises and nurtures a child.
  2. A female parent of an animal.
  3. A structure, such as a mother cell, from which other similar bodies are formed.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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mother
parent

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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mother

In addition to the idiom beginning with mother, also see necessity is the mother of invention.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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