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mother
- 15 dictionary resultsmoth⋅er
1 [muhth
-er]
–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)
—Idiom| 18. | to perform the tasks or duties of a female parent; act maternally: a woman with a need to mother. |
| 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 m
tēr, Skt mātar-. As in father, th was substituted for d, possibly on the model of brother
bef. 900; ME mother, moder, OE mōdor; c. D moeder, G Mutter, ON mōthir, L māter, Gk m
tēr, 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.
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. |
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
1945–50; euphemistic shortening

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To mother
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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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\, 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
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.
- A woman who conceives, gives birth to, or raises and nurtures a child.
- A female parent of an animal.
- 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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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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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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