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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

5 entries under this word

Mother

Mōth'er, n.

noun

(mŭth'er), n. [O. Eng. moder, A-S. mōdor, O. Sax. mōdur, L. Ger. moder, mör, D. moeder, moer, O. Fries. mōder, Icel. mōdhir, Dan. & Sw. moder, O. H. Ger. muotar, muatar, M. H. Ger. muoter, N. H. Ger. mutter, allied to Lat. māter, Gr. μήτηρ, Skr. mātṛ, Per. māder, O. Per. māta, O. Slav. mati, Russ. maty, Ir. mathair, It., Sp., & Pg. madre, Pr. maire, Fr. mère, from Lat. māter.]

  1. A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne a child; — correlate to son or daughter.
  2. That which has produced any thing; source of birth or origin; that in which any thing takes root; generatrix.

Alas! poor country! it can not Be called our mother, but our grave. Shak. O silence, thou art mother of a shout! Wordsworth. I behold . . . the solitary majesty of Crete, mother of a religion, it is said, that lived two thousand years. Landor.

  1. An old woman or matron. [Familiar.]
  2. Hysterical passion. [Obs.] Graunt.
  3. A young girl. See MAUTHER. [Obs.] B. & Fl.

Mother Carey's chicken (Ornith.), a small bird of the genus Procellaria (P. pelagica); the stormy petrel. See PETREL.

Mōth'er, a.

adjective

a. Received by birth or from ancestors; native; natural; as, mother language; also, acting the part, or having the place, of a mother; originating.

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

Mother church, the original or oldest church, or one from which other churches have had their origin;—especially applied by its adherents to the church of Rome.

Mȯth'er, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. To become concreted, as the thick matter of liquors.

Mȯth'er, v. t.

verbtransitive

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.

Mȯth'er, n.

noun

n. [L. Ger. moder, D. modder, moer, Dan. mudder, N. H. Ger. mutter, allied to mud.] A thick, slimy substance concreted in liquors, particularly in vinegar, but different from scum or common lees.