Mother

Wikipedia

See also Mother

English

Most common English words: within « room « power « #265: mother » often » themselves » half

Pronunciation

Wikipedia

• (UK) IPA: /ˈmʌðə/, SAMPA: /"mVD@/
• (US) IPA: /ˈmʌðɚ/, SAMPA: /"mVD@`/

• Audio (UK)	noicon
  (file)

• Audio (US)	noicon
  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌðə(r)
• Hyphenation: moth‧er

Etymology 1

From Middle English moder < Old English mōdor < Proto-Germanic *mothær < Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Cognates include Modern Greek μητέρα (mētéra), German Mutter, Proto-Slavic *mati (Russian мать (mat’)), Latin mater, Persian مادر (madar), Mycenaean Greek Template:Linb (ma-te-re), and Sanskrit मातृ (mātṛ).

Noun

File:Ragazza e bimba in braccio.jpg

a mother and her baby

File:White Cat Nursing Four Kittens.jpg

a mother cat and kittens

Singular Mother

Plural {{{1}}}

Mother ({{{1}}})

1. A (human) female who (a) parents a child or (b) gives birth to a baby. Sometimes used in reference to a pregnant female, possibly as a shortened form of mother-to-be (c).

   (a) I am visiting my mother today.

   • 1988, Robert Ferro, Second Son

     He had something of his mother in him, but this was because he realized that in the end only her love was unconditional, and in gratitude he had emulated her.

   (b) My sister-in-law has just become a mother.

   (c) Nutrients and oxygen obtained by the mother are conveyed to the fetus.

   • 1991, Susan Faludi, The Undeclared War Against American Women

     The antiabortion iconography in the last decade featured the fetus but never the mother.

2. A female parent of an animal.

   The lioness was a mother of four cubs.

3. (figuratively) A female ancestor.
   • Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. –Genesis 3:20, NIV.
4. (figuratively) A source or origin, viewed affectionately.

   The Mediterranean was mother to many cultures and languages.

5. (when followed by a surname) A title of respect for one's mother-in-law.

   Mother Smith, meet my cousin, Doug Jones.

6. (figuratively) Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community
   • Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother. –Mark 3:35, NIV.
7. (figuratively) Any person or entity which performs mothering.
   • The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. –Judges 5:7, KJV.
   • Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. –Galatians 4:26, KJV.

Synonyms

• (one’s female parent): See WikiSaurus:mother
• (of or pertaining to the mother, such as metropolis): metro-

Antonyms

• (with regards to gender) father
• (with regards to ancestry) daughter, son, child

Hypernyms

• (a female parent): parent

Coordinate terms

• (a female parent): father

Derived terms

terms derived from mother (noun)

antimother be mother motherfucker Mother Earth Mother City mother-in-law Mothering Sunday motherland

Mothers' Day mother-to-be biological mother birth mother foster mother grandmother, great-grandmother stepmother surrogate mother

Translations

female (human) who parents a child, gives birth to a baby, or is pregnant

Afrikaans: formal moeder af(af); informal ma af(af) Albanian: nënë sq(sq) American Sign Language: 5@Chin-ThumbBack Contact Amharic: [[እናት#Template:Am|እናት]] (ʼənat) Arabic: أم ar(ar) ('umm) f., والدة ar(ar) (waalida) f. Aragonese: mai an(an) f. Aramaic: Syriac: [[ܐܡܐ#Aramaic|Template:Syrc]] (’imā’) f. Hebrew: אמא (’imā’) f. Armenian: մայր hy(hy) (mayr), (informal) մամա hy(hy) (mama) Azeri: ana az(az) Basque: ama eu(eu) Belarusian: маці be(be) f. Bulgarian: майка bg(bg) f. Catalan: mare ca(ca) f. Chinese: Chinese: 母 cmn(cmn) (mǔ), 母親 cmn(cmn), 母亲 cmn(cmn) (mǔqīn), 媽媽 cmn(cmn), 妈妈 cmn(cmn) (māma), 娘 cmn(cmn) (niáng) (colloquial) Crimean Tatar: ana Croatian: majka hr(hr), mati hr(hr) Czech: matka cs(cs) f. Danish: moder da(da), mor da(da) c. Dutch: moeder nl(nl) f. Egyptian: (mwt) Eshtehardi: [[ننیه#Template:Esh|ننیه]] (naniya) Esperanto: patrino eo(eo) Estonian: ema et(et) Fijian: tina fj(fj) Finnish: äiti fi(fi) French: mère fr(fr) f. Georgian: დედა ka(ka) (deda) German: Mutter de(de) f. Greek: Ancient: μήτηρ (mētēr) f. Modern: μητέρα el(el) (mitéra) f., (colloquial) μάνα el(el) (mána) f. Hawaiian: makuahine Hebrew: אֵם he(he) (em) Hindi: माता hi(hi) (mātā) f., मां hi(hi) (mā̃) f., मादर hi(hi) (mādar) f., वालिदा hi(hi) (vālidā) f. Hungarian: anya hu(hu) Icelandic: mamma is(is) f., móðir is(is) f. Igbo: nne Indonesian: ibu id(id), bunda id(id) Interlingua: matre ia(ia) Inuktitut: ᐊᓈᓇ iu(iu) Irish: máthair ga(ga) f. Italian: madre it(it) f. Japanese: 母 ja(ja) (はは, haha), お母さん ja(ja) (おかあさん, o-kāsan), ママ ja(ja) (mama) Khmer: ម្ដាយ (mdai), ម៉ែ (mai) Korean: 엄마 ko(ko) (eomma), 어머니 ko(ko) (oemoeni) Kurdish: dayik ku(ku) f., دایک ku(ku) Latin: māter la(la) f. Latvian: māte lv(lv) f. Lithuanian: motė lt(lt) f., motina lt(lt) f.

Livonian: jemā, ǟma Lombard: mader Lower Sorbian: maś f., [[maśeŕ#Template:Dsb|maśeŕ]] f., [[maśerka#Template:Dsb|maśerka]] f., [[mama#Template:Dsb|mama]] f., [[maminka#Template:Dsb|maminka]] f. Luganda: maama Luhya: mai Luo: mama Macedonian: мајка mk(mk) (májka) f. Malayalam: അമ്മ ml(ml) (amma), മാതാവ് ml(ml) (mathaavu), (Animals) തള്ള ml(ml) (thalla) Maltese: omm mt(mt), mamà mt(mt), ma mt(mt) Maori: matua mi(mi) wahine mi(mi) Meru: mama Nepali: Aama ne(ne) Norwegian: mor no(no) c., mamma no(no) c., moder no(no) c. Novial: matra, patra Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: мати f. Glagolitic: [[ⰏⰀⰕⰉ#Old Church Slavonic|Template:Glag]] f. Pashto: مور ps(ps) (mor) f. Persian: مادَر fa(fa) (mādær), مامان fa(fa) (māmān) f., والده fa(fa) Polish: matka pl(pl) f., mama pl(pl) f. Portuguese: mãe pt(pt) f. Romani: dej f. Romanian: mamă ro(ro) f. Russian: мать ru(ru) (mat’) f., мама ru(ru) (máma) f. (colloquial) Santali: [[ᱮᱝᱜᱚ#Template:Sat|Template:Olck]] (engga) Scots: mither, moder Scottish Gaelic: màthair gd(gd) f. Serbian: mat sr(sr), mati sr(sr), mater sr(sr), majka sr(sr) f., roditeljica sr(sr) f., rođenica sr(sr) f. Sicilian: matri scn(scn) f. Sinhala: අම්මා si(si) (ammā) Slovak: matka sk(sk) f. Slovene: mati sl(sl) f. Sotho: mme st(st) Spanish: madre es(es) f. Swahili: mzazi sw(sw), mama sw(sw) Swedish: mor sv(sv) c., moder sv(sv) c. Tagalog: ina tl(tl) Thai: แม่ th(th) (mâe), มารดา th(th) (maandaa) Tocharian A: mācar Tocharian B: mācer Tok Pisin: mama tpi(tpi), mami tpi(tpi) Turkish: anne tr(tr) Ukrainian: мати uk(uk) (máty) f. Urdu: ماتا ur(ur) (mātā) f., ماں ur(ur) f., مادر ur(ur) (mādar) f., والدہ ur(ur) (vālidā) f. Vietnamese: mẹ vi(vi) Welsh: mam cy(cy) West Frisian: mem fy(fy) f. Zazaki: ma Zulu: umama zu(zu) (nc 2)

one’s female parent

Abkhaz: ан (an) Adyghe: нан (nan) Afrikaans: formal moeder; informal ma Ainu: ハポ (hapo) Albanian: nënë, mëmë Aleut: anax American Sign Language: 5@Chin-ThumbBack Contact Arabic: أم (’umm) f. Aragonese: mai f. Aramaic: Syriac: ܐܡܐ (’imā’) f. Hebrew: אמא (’imā’) f. Armenian: մայր (mayr), մայրիկ (mayrik), (informal) մամա hy(hy) (mama) Asturian: ma Aymara: tayca Azeri: ana Basque: ama Belarusian: маці f., матуля f., мама f. Bemba: mayo Blackfoot: iksísst Bosnian: majka bs(bs) f., mater bs(bs) f. Breton: mamm Bulgarian: майка bg(bg) (májka) f. Catalan: mare Cebuano: inahan Chamorro: nana Chinese: 妈妈 (māma); 母亲 (mǔqīn) Chiricahua: -má Cornish: mam Crimean Tatar: ana Czech: matka cs(cs) f. Danish: moder da(da), mor da(da) c. Dutch: moeder nl(nl) f. Equadorian Quechua: mama Esperanto: patrino eo(eo) f. Estonian: ema et(et) Faroese: móðir fo(fo) Finnish: äiti fi(fi) French: mère fr(fr) f. Georgian: დედა ka(ka) (deda) German: Mutter de(de) f. Greek: Ancient: μήτηρ (mētēr) f. Modern: μητέρα el(el) (mitéra) f., (colloquial) μάνα el(el) (mána) f. Guaraní: sy Hawaiian: meme, nene, eme Hebrew: אֵם (em), אמא (imma) f. Hittite: anna c. Hungarian: anya hu(hu) Icelandic: móðir is(is) f. Ido: matro Interlingua: matre Inuktitut: ᐊᓈᓇ Irish: máthair ga(ga) f. Italian: madre it(it) f. Japanese: お母さん (おかあさん, okāsan), 母 (はは, haha) Jicarilla: -’máá Kazakh: Шеше (sheshe), ана (ana), әже (yezhe) Khmer: ម្ដាយ (mdai), ម៉ែ (mai) Kinyarwanda: mama Kongo: ngudi Korean: 엄마 (eomma), 어머니 (eomeoni) Kurdish: dayik f., دایک Kyrgyz: эне (yene) Latin: māter la(la) f. Latvian: māte lv(lv) f. Ligurian: Moæ Lipan: -’má Lithuanian: motė lt(lt) f., motina lt(lt) f. Livonian: jemā, ǟma Lojban: mamta

Lower Sorbian: maś f. Macedonian: мајката (Majkata) Malagasy: reny Malayalam: അമ്മ (amma) f. Manx: mayragh Marshallese: jinen Mayan: mamah Mohawk: -'nihstenha Nahuatl: nantli Navajo: -má, (amá, "someone’s mother") Northern Sotho: mma Norwegian: mor no(no) c., mamma no(no) c., moder no(no) c. Novial: matra, patra Occitan: maire Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: мати f. Glagolitic: [[ⰏⰀⰕⰉ#Old Church Slavonic|Template:Glag]] f. Papiamentu: mama Persian: مادَر fa(fa) (mādær) Pidgin English: mama Polish: matka pl(pl) f., mama pl(pl) f. Portuguese: mãe pt(pt) f. Quechua: mama Romani: dej f. Romanian: mamă ro(ro) f. Romansch: mamã, mamå Russian: мать (mat’) f. Samoan: tina sm(sm) Sanskrit: मातृ sa(sa) f. Scots: mither, moder Scottish Gaelic: màthair f. Serbian: мајка sr(sr) f., majka sr(sr) f., матер sr(sr) f., mater sr(sr) f. Shona: amai Sicilian: matri Sinhala: අම්මා (ammā) Slovak: matka sk(sk) f. Slovene: mati sl(sl) f. Sotho: mme Spanish: madre es(es) f. Sranan: m'ma Sumerian: 𒂼 (AMA) Swahili: mama sw(sw) Swazi: máke Swedish: mor sv(sv) Tagalog: nánay, iná Tajik: модар (modar) Tamil: அம்மா (ammā) Taos: kána Telugu: అమ్మ (ammā) Thai: แม่ (mâe), มารดา (maandaa) Tocharian A: mācar Tocharian B: mācer Tok Pisin: mama, mami Tswana: mme Tupinambá: sy Turkish: anne tr(tr) Turkmen: eje tk(tk) Ukrainian: мати (máty) f. Uyghur: ana, apa Uzbek: oyim Vietnamese: má vi(vi), mẹ vi(vi), mợ vi(vi), u vi(vi) Volapük: jipal, mot Welsh: mam cy(cy) West Frisian: mem f. Western Apache: -maa, bąą, bąąhi, -máá Wolof: yaay Xhosa: mama, umama Yoruba: ìyá Yucatec: mamah Zulu: umama (nc 2)

Title of respect for one's mother-in-law

Malayalam: അമ്മ ml(ml) (amma), ഭാര്യാമാതവ് ml(ml) (bhaaryamathavu), അമ്മായിഅമ്മ ml(ml) (ammayiamma)

Persian: مادراندر fa(fa) (mādarandar), زن بابا fa(fa) (zanbābā) Swahili: mama sw(sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: أم ('umm) f. Bengali: (ma, amma) f. Breton: mamm f., mammoù pl. Bulgarian: майка (májka) f. Central Sierra Miwok: ʔytáˑ- Georgian: დედა (deda) Guaraní: sy

Indonesian: ibu, bunda, ibunda Malay: emak Maori: whaea, hākui, kōkā, ūkaipō Romanian: mamă f. Tamil: அம்மா (ammā) Thai: แม่ (mae)

Verb

Infinitive to Mother

Third person singular -

Simple past -

Past participle -

Present participle -

to Mother (third-person singular simple present -, present participle -, simple past and past participle -)

1. (transitive) To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.

Translations

to treat as a mother would be expected to

Danish: være mor for, tage sig ordentlig af Dutch: bemoederen, koesteren German: bemuttern de(de) Greek: ανατρέφω el(el), (informal) κανακεύω el(el)

Swahili: mama sw(sw) Vietnamese: chăm sóc vi(vi), nuôi vi(vi), nuôi nấng vi(vi)

References

• American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company 2003.

Etymology 2

Calque of Arabic أم (’umm, mother).

Noun

Singular Mother

Plural {{{1}}}

Mother ({{{1}}})

1. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.

   "The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun." — Saddam Hussein

Related terms

• mother of all

Translations

something that is the greatest of its kind

Catalan: mare f. Finnish: äiti fi(fi) German: Mutter de(de) f. Greek: μητέρα el(el) Hebrew: אֵם (em) f.

Latin: maximus la(la) Sinhala: අම්මාf. Slovene: mati sl(sl) f. Swahili: mama sw(sw)

Etymology 3

Shortened from motherfucker

Alternative spellings

• mutha

Noun

Singular Mother

Plural {{{1}}}

Mother ({{{1}}})

1. Template:Euphemism motherfucker.
2. Template:Euphemism A striking example.
   • 1964, Richard L. Newhafer, The last tallyho:

     November, 1943 If ever, Cortney Anders promised himself, I get out of this mother of a thunderstorm there is a thing I will do if it is the last act of my life.

   • 1980, Chester Anderson, Fox & hare: the story of a Friday night‎, page 5:

     Some hot night there's gonna be one mother of a riot down here. Just wait." He'd been saying the same thing since 1958, five years of crying wolf.

   • 2004, Rajnar Vajra, “The Ghost Within”, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, vol. 124, Nov, page 8: 

     Basically, we wind up with a program. One mother of a complex application.

   • 2006, Elizabeth Robinson, The true and outstanding adventures of the Hunt sisters:

     Josh, whose fleshy face resembles a rhino's - beady wide-set eyes blinking between a mother of a snout

Synonyms

• MF, mofo, motherfucker, mutha

Translations

motherfucker — see motherfucker

af:mother am:mother ar:mother an:mother as:mother ast:mother az:mother zh-min-nan:mother ca:mother da:mother de:mother et:mother el:mother es:mother fa:mother fr:mother fy:mother ko:mother hy:mother hr:mother io:mother it:mother kn:mother kk:mother sw:mother ku:mother lo:mother la:mother lv:mother lt:mother li:mother hu:mother ml:mother nl:mother ja:mother no:mother oc:mother pl:mother pt:mother ru:mother simple:mother sk:mother sr:mother fi:mother sv:mother tl:mother ta:mother te:mother th:mother tr:mother uk:mother vi:mother vo:mother zh:mother