motherless
adjective, adverb
motherless is spelled M-O-T-H-E-R-L-E-S-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 61,481st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, motherless means “Without a (living) mother” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in motherless?
| Letters | 10: M-O-T-H-E-R-L-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 61,481st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is motherless?
Motherless appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 61,481st 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 motherless?
- Australia
Motherless has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-motherless.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of motherless
- more motherless comparative
- most motherless superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does motherless mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Without a (living) mother.
- 2
Without mother (mucilaginous substance in fermenting liquid).
- 3
Without a history or predecessor.
adverb
- 1
Australiaslangvery, completely (especially in reference to drunkenness)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Motherless in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense without a living mother:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | mutterlos |
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 motherless come from?
From Middle English moderles, from Old English mōdorlēas, from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlausaz, equivalent to mother + -less. Cognate with Saterland Frisian muurloos (“motherless”), Dutch moederloos (“motherless”), German mutterlos (“motherless”), Danish moderløs (“motherless”), Swedish moderlös (“motherless”), Icelandic móðurlaus (“motherless”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).