mother

I. moth‧er¹ S1 W1 /ˈmʌðə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[Word Family: noun: mother, motherhood, mothering; adjective: motherly, motherless; verb: mother]
[Language: Old English; Origin: modor]
1. a female parent of a child or animal:
His mother and father are both doctors.
mother of two/three etc (=mother of two/three etc children)
Janet is a full-time teacher and a mother of two.
the relationship between mother and child
Goodnight, Mother.
Mother said they’d met at university.
If food is scarce, the mother will feed the smaller, weaker chicks.
mother cat/bird/hen etc (=an animal that is a mother)
2. be (like) a mother to somebody to care for someone as if you were their mother:
She’s like a mother to them. If they need anything she always helps out.
3. like a mother hen if someone behaves like a mother hen, they try to protect their children too much and worry about them all the time
4. learn/be taught something at your mother’s knee to learn something when you are a very young child:
the prayers which he had been taught at his mother’s knee
5. the mother of something
a) the origin or cause of something:
Westminster is known as ‘the mother of parliaments’.
Necessity is the mother of invention (=people have good ideas when the situation makes it necessary).
b) informal a very severe or extreme type of something, usually something bad:
I woke up with the mother of all hangovers.
6. spoken especially American English something very large and usually very good:
a real mother of a car
7. American English taboo spoken ↑motherfucker
8. Mother
used to address the woman who is in charge of a ↑convent
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ mother a female parent: My mother and father are both teachers.
▪ mum British English informal, mom American English informal used when talking to your father, or about someone's father: My mum and dad won’t mind if you want to stay the night. | Mom, where’s my sweater?
▪ mummy British English, mommy American English a name for mother, which is used especially by young children or when you are talking to young children: Where’s Mummy, Abbie?
▪ ma American English old-fashioned used when talking to your mother, or about someone's mother: Ma stirred the soup on the stove.
▪ mama old-fashioned used when talking to your mother, or about someone's mother: Mama seldom disagreed with Papa.
▪ stepmother (also stepmum British English informal, stepmom American English informal) a woman who is married to your father, who is not your mother but often acts as your parent: the wicked stepmother in fairy stories
II. mother² BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[Word Family: noun: mother, motherhood, mothering; adjective: motherly, motherless; verb: mother]
to look after and protect someone as if you were their mother, especially by being too kind and doing everything for them:
I don’t like being mothered!

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

mother

mother [mother mothers mothered mothering] noun, verb [ˈmʌðə(r)] [ˈmʌðər]

noun
1. a female parent of a child or animal; a person who is acting as a mother to a child
• I want to buy a present for my mother and father.
• the relationship between mother and baby
• She's the mother of twins.
• a mother of three (= with three children)
• an expectant (= pregnant) mother
• She was a wonderful mother to both her natural and adopted children.

• the mother chimpanzee caring for her young

2. the title of a woman who is head of a convent (= a community of nuns )
see also Mother Superior
more at necessity is the mother of invention at necessity, old enough to be sb's father/mother at old
Word Origin:
Old English mōdor, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch moeder and German Mutter, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin mater and Greek mētēr.
Thesaurus:
mother noun C
• She's the proud mother of twins.
parent • • stepmother • • guardian • |BrE, informal, especially spoken mum • • mummy • |AmE, informal, especially spoken mom • • mommy • |especially AmE, informal folks •
a good/bad mother/parent/mum/mom
sb's new mother/parent/stepmother/mum/mom
become a/sb's mother/parent/stepmother/guardian/mum/mom
Mother or mum? In spoken English mum/mom is much more frequent. It can sound formal to say my mother.
Example Bank:
• Her distraught mother had spent all night waiting by the phone.
• She felt proud that she had raised four children as a lone mother.
• She inherited the urge to travel from her mother.
• The boys were like their father, but Louise took after her mother.
• The court decided she was an unfit mother.
• The two boys were like their father in character, but Louise took after her mother.
• caring for his sick mother
• his beloved mother
• the proud mother of the bride
• She's the mother of twins.
• This is my mother, Joan.
• an expectant mother

Idioms: at your mother's knee ▪ mother of something

verb ~ sb/sth
to care for sb/sth because you are their mother, or as if you were their mother
• He was a disturbed child who needed mothering.

• Stop mothering me!

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

mother / ˈmʌð.ə r / / -ɚ / noun [ C ] (PARENT)

A1 a female parent:

My mother was 21 when she got married.

All the mothers and fathers had been invited to the end-of-term concert.

The little kittens and their mother were all curled up asleep in the same basket.

[ as form of address ] formal or old-fashioned May I borrow your car, Mother?

mother / ˈmʌð.ə r / / -ɚ / noun [ C ] ( also Mother ) (RELIGIOUS WOMAN)

the title of a woman who is in charge of, or who has a high rank within, a convent (= house of religious women) :

Mother Theresa

a mother superior

[ as form of address ] Good morning, Mother.

mother / ˈmʌð.ə r / / -ɚ / noun [ C ] offensive mainly US (SLANG)

→ motherfucker

Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

mother

/mʌðə(r)/
(mothers, mothering, mothered)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.
Your mother is the woman who gave birth to you. You can also call someone your mother if she brings you up as if she was this woman.
She sat on the edge of her mother’s bed...
She’s an English teacher and a mother of two children...
I’m here, Mother.
N-FAMILY

2.
If a woman mothers a child, she looks after it and brings it up, usually because she is its mother.
Colleen had dreamed of mothering a large family.
VERB: V n
• moth‧er‧ing
The reality of mothering is frequently very different from the romantic ideal.
N-UNCOUNT

3.
If you mother someone, you treat them with great care and affection, as if they were a small child.
Stop mothering me.
VERB: V n

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

¹moth·er /ˈmʌðɚ/ noun, pl -ers
1 [count] : a female parent
• She became a mother when she was in her 20s.
• She's the mother of three small children.
• She has been like a mother to me.
• Our dog is the mother of all those puppies.
• She has always been close to her mother.
• an expectant mother [=a woman who is pregnant]
• She is a single mother. [=a mother who does not have a husband or partner]
- see also birth mother, grandmother, queen mother, stepmother, surrogate mother
2 [count] : a woman who is thought of as being like a mother
• She was a mother to me after my own mother died.
- see also den mother
3 a [count] : a woman who invents or begins something - usually singular
• She is regarded as the mother of an entire industry.
• the mother of an important social movement
b [singular] : a cause or origin of something
• Some say that scandal is the mother of reform.
4 [count] : mother superior
- used especially as a title or as a form of address
• Mother Teresa
• Thank you, Mother.
5 [singular] informal
- used to say that something is larger, better, worse, etc., than all other things of the same kind
• It has been described as the mother of all construction projects. [=an extremely large construction project]
6 [count] US offensive : motherfucker
• That guy is one mean mother.
learn (something) at your mother's knee
- see ¹knee
necessity is the mother of invention
- used to say that new ways to do things are found or created when there is a strong and special need for them;
- moth·er·hood /ˈmʌðɚˌhʊd/ noun [noncount]
• She is looking forward to marriage and motherhood.
- moth·er·less /ˈmʌðɚləs/ adj
• Her death left three motherless children.
• a motherless calf