mother
Female parent; a woman in relation to her child.
Etymology
From Old English mōdor, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr, from PIE *méh₂tēr. Like *ph₂tḗr, this is one of the most remarkably preserved words across all Indo-European languages. The "m-" sound for mother appears in languages worldwide, likely because it is one of the first sounds babies produce.
The Journey: *méh₂tēr → mother
*méh₂tēr
*mōdēr
mōdor
moder
mother
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *méh₂tēr. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | mḗtēr |
| Latin | māter |
| Sanskrit | mātṛ́ |
| Old Irish | máthir |
| Lithuanian | motė |
| Old Church Slavonic | mati |
Did You Know?
The word "mama" or something like it means mother in languages across the globe — even unrelated ones. Linguist Roman Jakobson argued this is because "m" is the easiest consonant for a nursing baby to produce.
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *méh₂tēr. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.