mother
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
How often you will meet it
Rank 201 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 115,712 times across 157,096 chapters — 0.055% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
noun
- a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother) also: female parent the mother of three children
- a stringy slimy substance consisting of yeast cells and bacteria; forms during fermentation and is added to cider or wine to produce vinegar
- a term of address for an elderly woman
- a term of address for a mother superior
- a condition that is the inspiration for an activity or situation necessity is the mother of invention
verb
- care for like a mother also: fuss, overprotect She fusses over her husband
- make (offspring) by reproduction also: beget, get, engender, father, sire, generate Abraham begot IsaacJohn fathered four daughters
mother in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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I'll fly, dear mother, like an arrow home.
The White Christmas and other Merry · Walter Ben Hare · Chapter 1
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His father's portrait stood on the desk, and a painting of his long-dead mother.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
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Jason's mother was standing in the door when he walked through the yard gate.
The Heart of the Hills · John, Jr. Fox · Chapter 1
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He only said on returning, "I knew, Christian, from the first, that you would be a good mother to my children."
Christian's Mistake · Dinah Maria Mulock Craik · Chapter 1
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But for ten years he and this sweet-faced elderly woman in the doorway had been father and mother to the orphaned girl.
Gloria and Treeless Street · Annie Hamilton Donnell · Chapter 1