Mother — Defs

01 n. A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne a child.

1.
A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne a child.
2.
That which has produced or nurtured anything; source of birth or origin; generatrix.
“Alas! poor country! . . . it can not Be called our mother, but our grave.” — Shak.

“I behold . . . the solitary majesty of Crete, mother of a religion, it is said, that lived two thousand years.” — Landor.
3.
An old woman or matron.[Familiar]
4.
The female superior or head of a religious house, as an abbess, etc.
5.
Hysterical passion; hysteria.[Obs.]

Phrases & compounds

Mother Carey's chicken — any one of several species of small petrels, as the stormy petrel (Procellaria pelagica), and Leach's petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), both of the Atlantic, and Oceanodroma furcata of the North Pacific.

Mother Carey's goose — the giant fulmar of the Pacific. See Fulmar.

Mother's mark — a congenital mark upon the body; a birthmark; a naevus.

02 a. Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of a mother; producing…

1.
Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of a mother; producing others; originating.
“It is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived.” — T. Arnold.

Phrases & compounds

Mother cell — a cell which, by endogenous divisions, gives rise to other cells (daughter cells); a parent cell.

Mother church — the original church; a church from which other churches have sprung; as, the mother church of a diocese.

Mother country — the country of one's parents or ancestors; the country from which the people of a colony derive their origin.

Mother liquor — the impure or complex residual solution which remains after the salts readily or regularly crystallizing have been removed.

Mother queen — the mother of a reigning sovereign; a queen mother.

Mother tongue — A language from which another language has had its origin

Mother water — See Mother liquor (above).

Mother wit — natural or native wit or intelligence.

03 v. t. To adopt as a son or daughter; to perform the duties of a mother to.

imp. & p. p. Mothered; p. pr. & vb. n. Mothering

1.
To adopt as a son or daughter; to perform the duties of a mother to.
“The queen, to have put lady Elizabeth besides the crown, would have mothered another body's child.” — Howell.

04 n. A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of co…

1.
A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation.

05 v. i. To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as vinegar.

1.
To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as vinegar.

06 n. Same as motherfucker.

1.
Same as motherfucker.[Vulgar slang] See: motherfucker
2.
A person or thing with some exceptional quality, as great size or power; as, a grizzly stuck his nose in my tent and I grabbed my pistol and shot the mother.[Slang]