mother English · revision 3590

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 725 (Old English mōdor)|origins=ine-pro *māter-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈmʌð.ə/, US /ˈmʌð.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|moder]], [[inh|ang|mōdor]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*mōdēr]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*māter-|t=mother]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) Its Germanic cognates include [[osx|mōdar]], [[nl|moeder]], [[de|Mutter]] and [[non|móðir]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Hoad notes that it is lacking in Gothic.^(Hoad 1986) Outside Germanic the root gave [[la|māter]], [[grc|μήτηρ|tr=mḗtēr]], [[sga|máthir]], [[lt|motė]], Old Church Slavonic mati, Sanskrit mātár- and Tocharian A mācar.^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Watkins bases it on the baby-talk form [[m|ine-pro|*mā-]] with the kinship suffix [[m|ine-pro|*-ter-]],^(Etymonline) and Klein and Word Origins likewise trace it to a child's “ma”.^(Klein 1966)^(Cresswell 2021) The spelling with -th- dates from the early 16th century, though the pronunciation is probably older, as in [[father]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[maternal]], [[matrimony]], [[matrix]] and [[matter]].^(Klein 1966)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A female parent: Old English ''mōdor'', before 725;^(Barnhart 1988) of animals before 900,^(OED 1989) and of a woman who has given birth to a child about 1050.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Mother of God'' as a title of the Virgin Mary is from about 1122.^(OED 1989) In Middle English ''mother'' also meant the womb, and in the 15th century hysteria, both senses now obsolete.^(Hoad 1986) A term of address to an elderly woman and the head of a community of nuns are later uses.^(Hoad 1986) A quality or condition that gives rise to something is its ''mother'' from 1560.^(HTOED) ''Mother tongue'' is from the 14th century,^(Hoad 1986) and ''mother country'' and ''Mother Earth'' from the 16th.^(Hoad 1986) The verb meant “to be a mother” in the early 15th century,^(Etymonline) “to give birth to” from 1548,^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) and “to take care of as a mother” from 1863.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Mothering Sunday'' is the old name of the fourth Sunday in Lent.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 725 – Old English ''mōdor''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1122 – ''Mother of God''.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1125 – Middle English ''moder''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 14th century – ''mother tongue''.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * early 16th century – the spelling with ''-th-''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1548 – verb, to give birth to.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1560 – a source or origin.^(HTOED)

+ * 1863 – verb, to care for as a mother.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A woman who conceives, gives birth to or raises a child; a female parent, also of an animal.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A female [[ancestor]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A woman in authority, such as the head of a [[convent]].^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # A source or origin: ''necessity is the mother of invention''.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Being a mother; [[maternal]].^(AHD)

+ # Being the source or origin: ''the mother church''.^(AHD)

+ # Native: ''mother tongue''.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give birth to; to produce.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To care for or protect as a mother does.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[motherhood]]

+ * [[motherless]]

+ * [[motherlessness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[matter]]

+ * [[material]]

+ * [[maternal]]

+ * [[maternity]]

+ * [[matriculate]]

+ * [[matrimony]]

+ * [[matrix]]

+ * [[father]]

+ * [[matron]]

+ * [[madrigal]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate word ''mother'', the dregs of oil or wine and later the slimy film that turns wine or cider into vinegar (''mother of vinegar''), is recorded from 1538.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Barnhart and the SOED take it as a special use of ''mother'', comparing French ''mère de vinaigre'' and German ''Essigmutter'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) while Etymonline and Merriam-Webster connect it with Middle Dutch ''modder'', “mud, dregs”.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}