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.
4. The
female superior or
head of a religious home, as an abbess, etc.
5.
Mother Carey's chicken, a congenital mark upon the body; a naevus.
6. Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the seat of a mother; producing others; originating. "It is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived." (T.
7. Arnold) Mother cell, the impure or composite 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 language from which other language has had its origin. The language of one's native earth; native tongue. Mother water. See Mother liquor (above). Mother wit, natural or native wit or intelligence.
Source: Websters Vocabulary