# mother vs motherly

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### mother
*noun · IPA /ˈmʌð.ə/ · frequency rank #576*
A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, or fostered).

### motherly
*adjective · IPA /ˈmʌðəli/ · frequency rank #40,802*
Befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-motherly