noun
Meaning 1
Baby talk.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
motherese
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.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
Meaning 2
an adult's imitation of the speech of a young child
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: baby talk, babytalk
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: non-standard speech
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méh2tēr Proto-Germanic *mōdēr Proto-West Germanic *mōder Old English mōdor Middle English moder English mother Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-iskbor. Late Latin -iscus ▲ Vulgar Latin -iscus Latin -ēnsis Old French -eisbor. Middle English -eys English -ese English motherese From mother + -ese.
Across languages
Translations
3 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- French: mamanais — motherese — see also baby talk
- German: Mutterisch — motherese — see also baby talk
- Polish: mowa matczyna — motherese — see also baby talk