Standard Lemma guide

housemother

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /haʊsˈmʌðə(ɹ)/
  • Received-Pronunciation: [haʊsˈmɐðə(ɹ)]
  • General-American: /hʌʊsˈmʌðɚ/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The mother of a family; the female head of household, or of any collection of persons living as a family or in common, as in a primitive community.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A woman in charge of a residence for young people to look after them.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a woman employed as a chaperon in a residence for young people

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: chaperon, chaperone

History

Etymology

From house + mother. First use appears c. 1822. See cite below.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Hausmutter — mother of a family; the female head of household
  • Esperanto: vartistino — woman in charge of a residence for young people
  • French: surveillante — woman in charge of a residence for young people
  • German: Hausmutter — woman in charge of a residence for young people
  • Japanese: 寮母 (ryōbo) — woman in charge of a residence for young people