MOTHER  , the

term for the female parent of a child . The word, like father, is common to Indo-European languages, cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger . Mutter, Du. moeder, Swed. and Dan. moder; Gothic is the exception in Teutonic languages, the word being aithei, cf. atta, father; from Lat. mater come, in Romanic, Fr. mere, Ital., Span. and Port., madre . Greek has µ'rqp, (Attic and Ionic), µargp (Doric) . The Russian word is mat . The Sansk. mata points to an original derivation from a stem ma, to measure, or make . Of the many transferred applications of " mother " may be mentioned those to the church, to nature, to the earth, and to a city or nation, as the parent of other cities, nations, colonies, &c . As a title " mother " is particularly applied to the head of a religious community of women . For " mother-of-pearl " see PEARL . There is a particular application of " mother " to the scum which rises to the surface of a liquor during the process of fermentation, and also to a mass of gummy stringy consistency formed in vinegar in the process of acetous fermentation, hence known as " mother of vinegar " (see VINEGAR) . This is usually, however, taken to be another word altogether, and connected with Du. modder, mud, mire .