mother

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a condition that is the inspiration for an activity or situation

   necessity is the mother of invention

2. 2
   noun

   a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)

   the mother of three children

3. 3
   noun

   A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, or fostered).

   I am visiting my mother today.

4. 4
   noun

   A female who has given birth to a baby; this person in relation to her child or children.

   My sister-in-law has just become a mother for the first time.

5. 5
   noun

   A pregnant female; mother-to-be; a female who gestates a baby.

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

6. 6
   noun

   A female ancestor.

   And Adã called his wyfe Heua⸝ becauſe ſhe was the mother of all that lyveth

7. 7
   noun

   A source or origin.

   Near-synonym: matrix

8. 8
   noun

   Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. (See mother of all.)

   Near-synonym: Big One

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr Proto-Germanic *mōdēr Proto-West Germanic *mōder Old English mōdor Middle English moder English mother From Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-West Germanic *mōder, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Doublet of Madeira, mata, mater, matrix, and matter. Some have proposed that the "dregs" sense is from Middle Dutch modder (“filth”), from Proto-Germanic *muþraz (“sediment”), but modder is not known in this meaning. On the other hand, words for "mother" have developed the secondary sense of "dregs" in se…