motherlyadj.
/ˈmʌðəli/, U.S. /ˈməðərli/ General uses.† 4. Designating a first or native language, tongue, or dialect; = maternal adj. 1. Obsolete. rare.
1. Of or relating to a mother; belonging to a mother. Cf. maternal adj. 3b. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > mother > motherhood > [adjective]
motherlyOE
maternal1492
maternine1623
maternalistic1909
mumsy1961
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) v. 220 Hi wurdon gegripene fram moderlicum breostum.
OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 15 Sume synd possessiva, þæt synd geagnigendlice, þa geswuteliað þa þing, þe beoð geagnode:..mater modor, maternus, modorlic.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. viii. 14 In them who can owe no lesse then childlike obedience to her that hath more then motherly power.
1797 T. Holcroft Adventures Hugh Trevor IV. xiv. 197 With all due respect to her motherly functions, she is a very freakish and laughable old lady.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxi. 56 You from motherly lap the bright Girl can sever.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables vii. 73 That simple little prayer, sacred to white-robed childhood lisping at motherly knees.
2. Befitting or characteristic of a mother; comforting, protective, maternal. Cf. maternal adj. 3a.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > mother > motherhood > [adjective] > befitting a mother
motherlyOE
motherfulc1429
OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 318 Materna grauitate : dignitate, moderlicere stæþþinysse uel wurþscipe.
a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) 129 A ȝyngran nonnas clypien hyre yldre, þæt is moderlic [L. materna] arwurðfullunȝ odðe lief & arwesa.
a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 285 (MED) Þu..seh al þis sorhe vpo þi deore-wurðe sune [and] was wiðinne martird iþi moderliche herte.
c1390 Talkyng of Love of God (Vernon) (1950) 24 (MED) Vr oune Moder þou ne askest neuer wreche of no monnes sunnes, But..askest ay merci wiþ moderliche reuþe.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 405 Biddyng the queene whan the chyld were born, With-oute Mercy, or moderly pyte, That he be ded.
c1450 (a1400) Orologium Sapientiæ in Anglia (1888) 10 387 (MED) Þat worþy moder of þe souereyne kynge eurlastynge wisdame..voucheþ-safe to take hem as her owne sones to her derrest-loued sone & haue þe cure of hem be moderly affeccyone.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 232 (MED) Crist is our fader, For he hathe to vs a fadirlye affeccion, and not a modirly.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) lxxxxiii. sig. B*iiiv Syr syth ye are lefte me in the stede of my moder for goddes sake than leue your faderly herte and take a moderly herte vnto you.
1550 R. Sherry tr. Erasmus Declam. Chyldren in Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Jiv I pray you what motherlye hertes haue those women, whiche dandle in their lap their chyldren tyl they be almost seuen yeres old, and in maner make them fooles?
1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. sig. ⁋9 Now the Church of Rome would seeme at the length to beare a motherly affection towards her children.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 64 Within her brest..Motherly cares and fears got head. View more context for this quotation
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 500. ¶3 When I see the Motherly Airs of my little Daughters when they are playing with their Puppets.
1761 F. Sheridan Mem. Miss Sidney Bidulph I. 114 Had she vouchsafed to reason a little with me, tempering her arguments with a motherly kindness, she would have found me as flexible as she could wish.
1825 T. Carlyle Life Schiller (1845) iii. 197 The sky is so blue, and all is so calm, and motherly, and safe.
1846 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) v. 37 Mrs. Chick interposed with some motherly words about going to sleep like a dear.
1874 F. C. Burnand My Time xiii. 112 She pressed her lips on my forehead with another loving motherly kiss.
1917 E. R. Burroughs Princess of Mars vi. 61 A young woman who watched over me with motherly solicitude.
1977 Time (Atlantic ed.) 5 Sept. 44/1 It [sc. a van] is self-contained and self-containing, and its womby little room is packed with the motherly comforts of home.
1985 T. Jones Skin Deep xxiii. 169 She laid a motherly hand on the top of my head.
3. That is a mother; resembling a mother.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > mother > motherhood > [adjective] > resembling a mother
motherlike1530
motherly1530
maternal1785
motherish1851
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 246/2 Motherly woman, matrone.
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health iii. f. 162v Mydwiues and other motherlye women.
a1639 T. Dekker et al. Witch of Edmonton (1658) ii. i. 18 But Witch or no Witch, you are a motherly woman.
1698 E. Ward London Spy I. ii. 13 Round the Fire sat a tatter'd assembly of fat motherly Flat-caps, with their Fish-Baskets hanging upon their Heads instead of Riding-hoods, with every one her Nipperkin of warm Ale and Brandy.
1752 J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 215 To cause to come twelve good and motherly Women, by whom the Prisoner's Plea of Pregnancy may be tried.
1787 R. Burns Border Tour 10 May in Prose Wks. 127 Mrs. Somerville an excellent, motherly, agreeable woman, and a fine family.
1816 J. Austen Emma I. iii. 39 Mrs. Goddard..was a plain, motherly kind of woman. View more context for this quotation
1876 A. C. Swinburne Erechtheus 20 O holy and general mother of all men born, But mother most and motherliest of mine, Earth.
1882 L. Stephen Swift i. 10 A brisk, wholesome, motherly body.
1923 ‘R. Crompton’ William Again viii. 138 A large, motherly woman bore down upon him with a glass of milk and a bun.
1979 R. Stow Visitants i. 34 She turned to look me over for a moment, the big motherly teenaged bosom thrusting against the flowers.
1988 New Scientist 24 Dec. 14/2 The motherly housekeeper appeared at the sitting-room door.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > [adjective] > native or vernacular
kinda1325
maternal1481
vulgara1513
motherly1598
natural1617
vernacular1647
vernaculary1652
vernaculous1658
vernacule1669
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. *v The secretes of Physicke in their maternall and motherlye language.
Compounds
motherly-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian I. xvii. 307 The first who entered was, to her no small delight, one of her own sex, a motherly-looking aged person of a housekeeper.
1835 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz (1836) 1st Ser. I. 143 Those two motherly-looking women in the smart pelisses.
1977 Family Planning Perspectives 9 109/1 A plump, motherly-looking woman who turns out to be his wife.
2000 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 22 Nov. 30 Television brainbox Carol Vordeman transformed herself from a plumpish, motherly looking presenter to a stunning sex symbol.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
motherlyadv.
/ˈmʌðəli/, U.S. /ˈməðərli/ Now rare.
In a motherly manner; tenderly, compassionately.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > mother > motherhood > [adverb]
motherlyOE
motherlike1537
maternally1869
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 434 Heo syððan wearð gehadod eft to abudissan on elig mynstre, ofer manega mynecena, and heo hi modorlice heold mid godum gebysnungum to þam gastlican life.
1441 in A. H. Thompson Visitations Relig. Houses Diocese Lincoln (1919) II. 8 We enioyne yow, pryoresse..ye treyte your saide su[sters] moderlie wyth all resonable fauour.
a1450 (c1435) J. Lydgate Life SS. Edmund & Fremund (Harl.) 726 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 389 (MED) She hir sone gan kyssen and enbrace, And in hir armys moderly hym streyne.
a1509 (?1468) Acct. Marriage Margaret of York in Archaeologia (1846) 31 329 (MED) The olde duches toke hir verye motherlye, with great reverence.
a1555 J. Bradford in M. Coverdale Certain Lett. Martyrs (1564) 288 The mother..casteth the rodde into the fier, and colleth the childe, geueth it an apple and dandleth it moste motherly.
1663 A. Cowley Ess. in Verse & Prose (1669) 140 Those studies to which Nature had so Motherly inclined me.
1887 G. MacDonald Home Again vii The forehead his mother had been so motherly proud of.
1996 M. Syal Anita & Me (1997) xii. 289 Mama..held the swing doors open for her and touched her lightly, motherly, as she passed through.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.OE
adv.OE