n.
- A female person who is pregnant with or gives birth to a child.
- A female person whose egg unites with a sperm, resulting in the conception of a child.
- A woman who adopts a child.
- A woman who raises a child.
- A female parent of an animal.
- A female ancestor.
- A woman who holds a position of authority or responsibility similar to that of a mother: a den mother.
- Roman Catholic Church.
- A mother superior.
- Used as a form of address for such a woman.
- A woman who creates, originates, or founds something: "the discovery of radium, which made Marie Curie mother to the Atomic Age" (Alden Whitman).
- A creative source; an origin: Philosophy is the mother of the sciences.
- Used as a title for a woman respected for her wisdom and age.
- Maternal love and tenderness: brought out the mother in her.
- The biggest or most significant example of its kind: the mother of all battles.
- Vulgar Slang. Something considered extraordinary, as in disagreeableness, size, or intensity.
- Relating to or being mother.
- Characteristic of a mother: mother love.
- Being the source or origin: the mother church.
- Derived from or as if from one's mother; native: one's mother language.
v., -ered, -er·ing, -ers. v.tr.
- To give birth to; create and produce.
- To watch over, nourish, and protect maternally.
To act or serve as a mother.
[Middle English moder, mother, from Old English mōdor. N., sense 10, translation of Iraqi Arabic 'umm. N., sense 11, short for MOTHERFUCKER.]
moth·er2 (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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
