Mother

The superiority of the Hebrew over all contemporaneous systems of legislation and of morals is strongly shown in the higher estimation of the mother in the Jewish family, as contrasted with modern Oriental as well as ancient Oriental and classical usage. The king’s mother, as appears in the case of Bath-sheba, was treated with special honor. (Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:3; 5:16; 21:18,21; 1 Kings 2:29; Proverbs 10:1; 15:20; 17:25; 29:15; 31:1,30)

MOTH'ER. Besides in the literal sense, the word is used in the O.T. in reference to a grandmother, 1 Kgs 15:10, and a stepmother. Gen 37:10. It has also a poetical use, as applied to a political leader, Jud 5:7, a nation, as we say "mother-country." Jer 50:12; Eze 19:2. As the position of woman is always the test of the true civilization of a people, it is pleasing to notice in what respect and affection the mothers stood. See Prov 10:1; Gen 15:20; Prov 17:25; Prov 29:15; Prov 31:1, Prov 31:30, and compare the commands given by Moses. Ex 20:12; Deut 5:16; Gen 21:18, Deut 21:21; Lev 19:3. The queen-mother was in royal times a very much honored person. 1 Kgs 2:19. See Queen.

MOTH'ER. Besides in the literal sense, the word is used in the O.T. in reference to a grandmother, 1 Kgs 15:10, and a stepmother. Gen 37:10. It has also a poetical use, as applied to a political leader, Jud 5:7, a nation, as we say "mother-country." Jer 50:12; Eze 19:2. As the position of woman is always the test of the true civilization of a people, it is pleasing to notice in what respect and affection the mothers stood. See Prov 10:1; Gen 15:20; Prov 17:25; Prov 29:15; Prov 31:1, Prov 31:30, and compare the commands given by Moses. Ex 20:12; Deut 5:16; Gen 21:18, Deut 21:21; Lev 19:3. The queen-mother was in royal times a very much honored person. 1 Kgs 2:19. See Queen.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), the giant fulmar of the Pacific. See Fulmar. -- Mother's mark (Med.), a congenital mark upon the body; a nævus.

Part of speech: noun (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 conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

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.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

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

Part of speech: adjective (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.