the father and mother of see under mother¹

mother¹ /mudhˈər/

noun

1. A female parent
2. That which has produced or nurtured anything
3. A protective or nurturing quality
4. The female head of a religious house or other establishment
5. A matron
6. A familiar term of address to, or prefix to the name of, an old woman
7. Extended to a female ancestor, stepmother, mother-in-law or foster-mother
8. An apparatus for chicken-rearing
9. The womb (obsolete)
10. Hysteria (obsolete)
11. See also motherfucker below

adjective

1. Received by birth, as it were from one's mother
2. Being a mother
3. Acting the part of a mother
4. Originating
5. Used to generate others

transitive verb

1. To give birth to
2. To acknowledge, adopt or treat as a son or daughter
3. To foster
4. To behave (too) protectively towards, as, or as if as, a mother
5. To attribute the maternity or authorship of (with on or upon)
6. To find a mother for

mothˈerhood noun

The state of being a mother

mothˈering noun

A rural English custom of visiting the mother church or one's parents on mid-Lent Sunday (Mothering Sunday)

mothˈerless adjective

Without a mother

mothˈerliness noun

mothˈerly adjective

1. Relating to, or befitting, a mother
2. Like a mother

mothˈerboard noun

A printed circuit board in a computer which holds the principal components, with slots on its buses for the attachment of adapter cards

Mother Carey's chicken or Mother Carey's goose noun

The storm petrel, or similar bird

mother cell noun (biology)

A cell that gives rise to others by division, a stem cell

mother church noun

1. The church from which others have sprung
2. A principal church

mother city noun

One from which another was founded as a colony

mother country or mothˈerland noun

1. The country of one's birth
2. The home country of colonists, etc settled elsewhere

mothˈercraft noun

Knowledge and skill required for the care of a child

mother figure noun

An older woman who symbolizes for one the qualities and authority of one's mother

mothˈerfucker noun (taboo sl, esp US)

An extremely objectionable, unpleasant, etc person or thing (sometimes shortened to moth'er, mutha /mudhˈə/ or mō'fō)

mothˈerfucking adjective (taboo sl, esp US)

1. Objectionable
2. Often used as an intensifier or meaningless qualification

mother hen noun

1. A hen that has chicks
2. A person who clucks and fusses over others

Mother Hubbard noun

A woman's loose flowing gown, named after the heroine of a nursery rhyme

mothˈer-in-law noun (pl mothˈers-in-law)

1. The mother of one's husband or wife
2. A stepmother (obsolete)

mothˈer-in-law's tongue noun

A houseplant with swordlike leaves, Sansevieria

mothˈerland see mother country above.

mother liquor or mother lye noun

Mother water

mother lode noun (mining)

The main lode of any system

mothˈer-naˈked adjective

Completely naked, as at birth

Mother of God noun

The Virgin Mary

mother-of-millˈions noun

Ivy-leaved toadflax

mother-of-pearlˈ noun

The nacreous internal layer of the shells in some molluscs (also adjective)

mothˈer-of-thousands noun

A perennial creeping plant with ivy-shaped leaves

mothˈer-right noun (archaic)

1. Succession in the female line
2. Matriarchy

Mother's Day noun

1. A day for honouring mothers, as, in the USA, the second Sunday in May
2. Also used for Mothering Sunday

mother's help noun

A person employed to help a mother with domestic duties, esp the supervision of children

mothˈership noun

1. A ship having charge of torpedo-boats or small craft
2. A ship which provides a number of other, usu smaller, ships with services, supplies, etc

Mother Shipton /shipˈtən/ noun

A type of moth whose wing-markings resemble the profile of an old woman

mother's mark or mother spot noun

A birthmark

mothers' meeting noun

A periodical meeting of mothers connected with a church

mother's ruin or mothers’ ruin noun (slang)

Gin

mother superior noun

The head of a convent or any community of nuns

mother-to-beˈ noun (pl mothers-to-beˈ)

A woman who is pregnant, esp with her first child

mother tongue noun

1. Native language
2. A language from which another has its origin

mother water noun

Residual liquid, still containing certain chemical substances, left after others have been crystallized or precipitated from it

mother wit noun

1. Native wit
2. Common sense

mothˈerwort noun

The labiate plant Leonurus cardiaca, or any of several related plants formerly used in the treatment of disorders of the uterus

be mother (facetious)

To pour the tea

every mother's son

Every man without exception

fits of the mother (obsolete)

Hysteria

the mother and father (or father and mother) (of) (informal)

The biggest, greatest (usu figurative), as in the mother and father of an argument (or all arguments)