# housemother

> English word · Noun · IPA /haʊsˈmʌðə(ɹ)/

## Definitions
1. The mother of a family; the female head of household, or of any collection of persons living as a family or in common, as in a primitive community.
2. A woman in charge of a residence for young people to look after them.

## Etymology
From house + mother. First use appears c. 1822. See cite below.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/housemother