Definition: mother

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

mother
     n 1: a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term
          of address to your mother); "the mother of three
          children" [syn: female parent] [ant: father, father]
     2: a stringy slimy substance consisting of yeast cells and
        bacteria; forms during fermentation and is added to cider
        or wine to produce vinegar
     3: a term of address for an elderly woman
     4: a condition that is the inspiration for an activity or
        situation; "necessity is the mother of invention"
     v 1: care for like a mother; "She fusses over her husband" [syn:
          fuss, overprotect]
     2: make children; "Abraham begot Isaac"; "Men often father
        children but don't recognize them" [syn: beget, get, engender,
         father, sire, generate, bring forth]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mother \Moth"er\, a.
   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.

   Mother cell (Biol.), 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 (Chem.), 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) A language from which another language has had its
       origin.
   (b) The language of one's native land; native tongue.

   Mother water. See Mother liquor (above).

   Mother wit, natural or native wit or intelligence.

Mother \Moth"er\, n. [OE. moder, AS. m[=o]dor; akin to D.
   moeder, OS. m[=o]dar, G. mutter, OHG. muotar, Icel.
   m[=o][eth]ir, Dan. & Sw. moder, OSlav. mati, Russ. mate, Ir.
   & Gael. mathair, L. mater, Gr. mh`thr, Skr. m[=a]t[.r]; cf.
   Skr. m[=a] to measure. [root]268. Cf. Material, Matrix,
   Metropolis, Father.]
   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.] --Shak.

   Mother Carey's chicken (Zo["o]l.), 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 O. furcata of the
      North Pacific.

   Mother Carey's goose (Zo["o]l.), the giant fulmar of the
      Pacific. See Fulmar.

   Mother's mark (Med.), a congenital mark upon the body; a
      n[ae]vus.

Mother \Moth"er\, v. i.
   To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as
   vinegar.

Mother \Moth"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mothered; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Mothering.]
   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.

Mother \Moth"er\, n. [Akin to D. modder mud, G. moder mold, mud,
   Dan. mudder mud, and to E. mud. See Mud.]
   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.

   Note: The film is composed of a mass of rapidly developing
         micro["o]rganisms of the genus Mycoderma, and in the
         mother of vinegar the micro["o]rganisms (Mycoderma
         aceti) composing the film are the active agents in the
         Conversion of the alcohol into vinegar. When thickened
         by growth, the film may settle to the bottom of the
         fluid. See Acetous fermentation, under
         Fermentation.

Mauther \Mau"ther\, n. [Cf. AS. m[ae]g? a maid.] [Also spelled
   mawther, mother.]
   A girl; esp., a great, awkward girl; a wench. [Prov. Eng.]

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10)

mother

   parent