Definitions for: Mother


[n] a condition that is the inspiration for an activity or situation; "necessity is the mother of invention"
[n] a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother); "the mother of three children"
[n] a term of address for an elderly woman
[n] a stringy slimy substance consisting of yeast cells and bacteria; forms during fermentation and is added to cider or wine to produce vinegar
[v] make children; "Abraham begot Isaac"; "Men often father children but don't recognize them"
[v] care for like a mother; "She fusses over her husband"



Webster (1913) Definition: Moth"er, n. [OE. moder, AS. m[=o]dor; akin to D.
moeder, OS. m[=o]dar, G. mutter, OHG. muotar, Icel.
m[=o][eth]ir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ. mate, Ir.
& Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr. mh`thr, Skr. m[=a]t[.r]; cf.
Skr. m[=a] to measure. [root]268. Cf. Material, Matrix,
Metropolis, Father.]
1. A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a
woman who has borne a child.

2. That which has produced or nurtured anything; source of
birth or origin; generatrix.

Alas! poor country! . . . it can not Be called our
mother, but our grave. --Shak.

I behold . . . the solitary majesty of Crete, mother
of a religion, it is said, that lived two thousand
years. --Landor.

3. An old woman or matron. [Familiar]

4. The female superior or head of a religious house, as an
abbess, etc.

5. Hysterical passion; hysteria. [Obs.] --Shak.

Mother Carey's chicken (Zo["o]l.), any one of several
species of small petrels, as the stormy petrel
(Procellaria pelagica), and Leach's petrel ({Oceanodroma
leucorhoa}), both of the Atlantic, and O. furcata of the
North Pacific.

Mother Carey's goose (Zo["o]l.), the giant fulmar of the
Pacific. See Fulmar.

Mother's mark (Med.), a congenital mark upon the body; a
n[ae]vus.


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

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

Mother cell (Biol.), a cell which, by endogenous divisions,
gives rise to other cells (daughter cells); a parent cell.


Mother church, the original church; a church from which
other churches have sprung; as, the mother church of a
diocese.

Mother country, the country of one's parents or ancestors;
the country from which the people of a colony derive their
origin.

Mother liquor (Chem.), the impure or complex residual
solution which remains after the salts readily or
regularly crystallizing have been removed.

Mother queen, the mother of a reigning sovereign; a queen
mother.

Mother tongue.
(a) A language from which another language has had its
origin.
(b) The language of one's native land; native tongue.

Mother water. See Mother liquor (above).

Mother wit, natural or native wit or intelligence.


Moth"er, 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.

The queen, to have put lady Elizabeth besides the
crown, would have mothered another body's child.
--Howell.


Moth"er, n. [Akin to D. modder mud, G. moder mold, mud,
Dan. mudder mud, and to E. mud. See Mud.]
A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of
fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and
acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the
alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus
leading to their oxidation.

Note: The film is composed of a mass of rapidly developing
micro["o]rganisms of the genus Mycoderma, and in the
mother of vinegar the micro["o]rganisms ({Mycoderma
aceti}) composing the film are the active agents in the
Conversion of the alcohol into vinegar. When thickened
by growth, the film may settle to the bottom of the
fluid. See Acetous fermentation, under
Fermentation.


Moth"er, v. i.
To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as
vinegar.

Synonyms: beget, bring forth, engender, father, female parent, fuss, generate, get, overprotect, sire

Antonyms: begetter, father, male parent

See Also: barm, care, create, give care, inspiration, ma, Madonna, make, mama, mamma, mammy, Mary, mater, mom, momma, mommy, mother-in-law, mum, mummy, old woman, para I, parent, primipara, puerpera, quadripara, quintipara, surrogate mother, The Virgin, Virgin Mary, yeast

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