What does "mother" mean?
A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, or fostered).
Mother
/ˈmʌðə/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, or fostered).
- Grammar: mother is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: ma, matriarch, mom, mommy.
- Useful contrasts: abandon, child, dad.
- Usage evidence: "Who is it?" "It's your mother."
How to use "mother"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mother" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mother" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mother" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mother" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mother" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "ma" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mother", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 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."
- 2 Motherfucker. euphemistic, mildly, slang, vulgar
"(Burn, baby, burn) Disco inferno / (Burn, baby, burn) Burn the mother down"
- 3 Alternative form of moth-er. alt-of, alternative
- 4 A title given to a nun or a priestess.
"Mother Teresa Gertrude O’Sullivan, then Provincial, did not give higher education for Loreto nuns the same priority as had Mothers Gonzaga and Stanislaus."
- 5 a condition that is the inspiration for an activity or situation wordnet
Show 23 more definitions
- 6 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."
- 7 A striking example. (Appears as "mother of a(n) __".) colloquial, euphemistic
"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."
- 8 A title given to the personification of a force of nature or abstract concept, such as Mother Nature, Mother Russia, or Mother Earth.
- 9 a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother) wordnet
- 10 A pregnant female; mother-to-be; a female who gestates a baby.
"Nutrients and oxygen obtained by the mother are conveyed to the fetus."
- 11 a term of address for a mother superior wordnet
- 12 A female who donates a fertilized egg or donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone.
- 13 a term of address for an elderly woman wordnet
- 14 A female ancestor. figuratively
"And Adã called his wyfe Heua⸝ becauſe ſhe was the mother of all that lyveth"
- 15 a stringy slimy substance consisting of yeast cells and bacteria; forms during fermentation and is added to cider or wine to produce vinegar wordnet
- 16 A source or origin. figuratively
"Near-synonym: matrix"
- 17 Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. (See mother of all.)
"Near-synonym: Big One"
- 18 A title of respect for one's mother-in-law. dated
"Mother Smith, meet my cousin, Doug Jones."
- 19 A term of address for one's wife. dated
"A few minutes later we were all seated comfortably, Uncle Dave and mother, as he called his wife, myself and my husband, in the split-bottomed wooden chairs, on the vine-covered porch. / “Is Bethel a Methodist Church?” I asked. / Uncle Dave looked quizzically at his wife. “Do you hear that, mother?” he said."
- 20 Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community. figuratively
"Near-synonyms: matron, matriarch"
- 21 Any person or entity which performs mothering. figuratively
"Judges 5:7, KJV. The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel."
- 22 Dregs, lees; a stringy, mucilaginous or film- or membrane-like substance (consisting of a culture of acetobacters) which develops in fermenting alcoholic liquids (such as wine, or cider), and turns the alcohol into acetic acid with the help of oxygen from the air.
"pieces of mother ; adding mother to vinegar"
- 23 A locomotive which provides electrical power for a slug.
- 24 The principal piece of an astrolabe, into which the others are fixed.
- 25 The female superior or head of a religious house; an abbess, etc.
- 26 Hysterical passion; hysteria; the uterus. obsolete
"O how this mother ſwels vp toward my hart[…]"
- 27 A disc produced from the electrotyped master, used in manufacturing phonograph records.
- 28 A person who is admired, respected, or looked up to within a particular fandom or community; see also: serve cunt
Verb
- 1 To give birth to or produce (as its female parent) a child. (Compare father.) transitive
"Q's sister, Debbie, had mothered two kids by the time she was twenty, with neither of the fathers in sight."
- 2 make (offspring) by reproduction wordnet
- 3 To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture. transitive
"She had seen fewer years than any of us, but she was of such superb Evehood and simplicity that she mothered us from the beginning."
- 4 care for like a mother wordnet
- 5 To cause to contain mother (“that substance which develops in fermenting alcohol and turns it into vinegar”). transitive
"mothered oil, mothered vinegar, mothered wine"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To develop mother. intransitive
"Iron rusted, paper cracked, cream soured and vinegar mothered."
Proper Noun
- 1 One's mother. dated
- 2 One of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Crone and Maiden and representing a woman older than a girlish Maiden but younger than an aged Crone.
"...different stages of life as represented by our Lady as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, as well as our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage."
Example
""Who is it?" "It's your mother.""
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mother"?
Common synonyms include: ma, matriarch, mom, mommy, mum, adoptive mother.
How do you use "mother" in a sentence?
"Who is it?" "It's your mother."
How do you pronounce "mother"?
Pronounced /ˈmʌðə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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 several Romance and Germanic languages; compare Dutch moer, French mère de vinaigre, German Essigmutter, Italian madre, Medieval Latin māter, and Spanish madre.
Etymology 2
From Middle English modren, from the noun (see above).
Etymology 3
Clipping of motherfucker.
Etymology 4
Coined from moth by analogy to mouser.
Etymology 5
See mother.