# mother

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmʌð.ə/ · frequency rank #576

## Definitions
1. A female parent, especially of a human; a female who parents a child (which she has given birth to, adopted, or fostered).
2. A female who has given birth to a baby; this person in relation to her child or children.
3. A pregnant female; mother-to-be; a female who gestates a baby.
4. A female who donates a fertilized egg or donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone.
5. A female ancestor.
6. A source or origin.
7. Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind. (See mother of all.)
8. A title of respect for one's mother-in-law.
9. A term of address for one's wife.
10. Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community.
11. Any person or entity which performs mothering.
12. Dregs, lees; a stringy, mucilaginous or film- or membrane-like substance (consisting of a culture of acetobacters) which develops in fermenting alcoholic liquids (such as wine, or cider), and turns the alcohol into acetic acid with the help of oxygen from the air.
13. A locomotive which provides electrical power for a slug.
14. The principal piece of an astrolabe, into which the others are fixed.
15. The female superior or head of a religious house; an abbess, etc.
16. Hysterical passion; hysteria; the uterus.
17. A disc produced from the electrotyped master, used in manufacturing phonograph records.
18. A person who is admired, respected, or looked up to within a particular fandom or community; see also: serve cunt

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr
Proto-Germanic *mōdēr
Proto-West Germanic *mōder
Old English mōdor
Middle English moder
English mother
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. On the other hand, words for "mother" have developed the secondary sense of "dregs" in several Romance and Germanic languages; compare Dutch moer, French mère de vinaigre, German Essigmutter, Italian madre, Medieval Latin māter, and Spanish madre.

## Easily confused with
- **motor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-motor)
- **moths** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-moths)
- **mover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-mover)
- **mower** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-mower)
- **motley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-motley)
- **mutter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-mutter)
- **mothers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-mothers)
- **mouthed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-mouthed)
- **motherly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mother-vs-motherly)
- **moth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/moth-vs-mother)
- **mohr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mohr-vs-mother)
- **mote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mote-vs-mother)
- **meter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/meter-vs-mother)
- **motel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/motel-vs-mother)
- **mater** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mater-vs-mother)
- **Maher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/maher-vs-mother)
- **Moshe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/moshe-vs-mother)
- **moser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/moser-vs-mother)
- **matter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/matter-vs-mother)
- **monger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monger-vs-mother)

## Common misspellings (9)
`mmother`, `mohter`, `motehr`, `motherr`, `mothher`, `mothre`, `motther`, `mtoher`, `omther`

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