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PlainSpell

mother

moth·er/ˈmʌðɚ/noun, verb

mother is spelled M-O-T-H-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (moth·er). It appears 174 times per million words in written English, the 576th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mother means “A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, fostered, etc)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mother is mothers.

How many letters and syllables are in mother?

Letters6: M-O-T-H-E-R
Syllables2: moth·er
In writing174 times per million words; the 576th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is mother?

Mother appears 174 times per million words in written English, the 576th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce mother?

  • UK /ˈmʌð.ə/
  • US /ˈmʌðɚ/
  • Australia /ˈmɐð.ə/

As a noun (“Alternative form of moth-er”): /ˈmɒθə(ɹ)/, /ˈmʌð.ə/, /ˈmʌðɚ/.

Mother has 2 syllables, split moth·er in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-mother.ogg, En-us-mother.ogg, En-au-mother.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with mother

Also written: moth-er (one word or two).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with mother?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as mother from its last stressed vowel (/ʌðəɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: thermo.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of mother

  • mothers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • mither
  • mothering participle, present
  • mothered participle, past
  • mutha

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does mother mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, fostered, etc).

    I am visiting my mother any moment.

  2. 2

    A pregnant female; mother-to-be; a female who gestates a baby.

    Nutrients and oxygen obtained by the mother are conveyed to the fetus.

  3. 3

    A female who donates a fertilized egg or donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone.

  4. 4

    A female ancestor.

  5. 5

    A source or origin.

    Near-synonym: matrix

  6. 6

    Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. (See mother of all.)

    Near-synonym: Big One

  7. 7

    datedA title of respect for one's mother-in-law.

    Mother Smith, meet my cousin, Doug Jones.

  8. 8

    datedA term of address for one's wife.

  9. 9

    slangvulgarMotherfucker.

  10. 10

    colloquialA striking example. (Appears as "mother of a(n) __".)

  11. 11

    Alternative form of moth-er.

verb

  1. 1

    To give birth to or produce (as its female parent) a child. (Compare father.)

  2. 2

    To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.

  3. 3

    To cause to contain mother (“that substance which develops in fermenting alcohol and turns it into vinegar”).

    mothered oil, mothered vinegar, mothered wine

  4. 4

    To develop mother.

noun

as Mother
  1. 1

    A title given to a nun or a priestess.

  2. 2

    A title given to the personification of a force of nature or abstract concept, such as Mother Nature, Mother Russia, or Mother Earth.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate mother?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of mother: M.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Mother in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmère, maman (female (human) who gives birth to or parents a…), mère de vinaigre, mycoderme (film that produces vinegar), materner (to treat as a mother would be expected to)
GermanMutter, Mutti, Mama, Mueter, muadda (female (human) who gives birth to or parents a…), bemuttern (to treat as a mother would be expected to)
Portuguesemãe (female (human) who gives birth to or parents a…), progenitora (female parent of an animal)
Spanishmadre (female (human) who gives birth to or parents a…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does mother come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after mother