Online Encyclopedia

MOTHER

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 906 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MOTHER  , the

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term for the
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female parent of a child . The word, like
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father, is
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common to Indo-
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European
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languages, cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger . Mutter, Du. moeder, Swed. and
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Dan. moder;
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Gothic is the exception in Teutonic languages, the word being aithei, cf. atta, father; from
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Lat. mater come, in Romanic, Fr. mere, Ital., Span. and
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Port., madre . Greek has µ'rqp, (Attic and Ionic), µargp (Doric) . The
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Russian word is mat . The Sansk. mata points to an
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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
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women . For " mother-of-pearl " see PEARL . There is a particular application of " mother " to the scum which rises to the
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surface of a liquor during the
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process of
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fermentation, and also to a mass of gummy stringy consistency formed in
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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 .

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WILLIAM MOTHERWELL (1797-1835)

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