noun
Meaning 1
The state of being a mother.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
motherhood
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.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmʌðəhʊd/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: /ˈmʌðɚˌhʊd/
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General-American: /ˈmə-/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Northern-England: /ˈmʊðəˌhʊd/
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Northern-Ireland, Scotland: /ˈmʌðəɹˌhʉd/
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rhymes with -ʌðə(ɹ)hʊd
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CMU ARPABET: M AH1 DH ER0 HH UH2 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Mothers, considered as a group.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- the nation's motherhood
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
the kinship relation between an offspring and the mother
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: maternity
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: kinship, family relationship, relationship
History
Etymology
From Middle English moderhode, moderhede, equivalent to mother + -hood.
Across languages
Translations
49 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: nënëri — state of being a mother
- Albanian: amësi — state of being a mother
- Albanian: mëmësi — state of being a mother
- Southern Altai: энелик (enelik) — state of being a mother
- Arabic: أُمُومَة (ʔumūma) — state of being a mother
- Bulgarian: майчинство (majčinstvo) — state of being a mother
- Catalan: maternitat — state of being a mother
- Chinese Mandarin: 母親身份 /母亲身份 (mǔqīn shēnfèn) — state of being a mother
- Chinese Mandarin: 母性 (mǔxìng) — state of being a mother
- Crimean Tatar: analıq — state of being a mother
- Czech: mateřství — state of being a mother
- Danish: moderskab — state of being a mother
- Dutch: moederschap — state of being a mother
- Esperanto: patrineco — state of being a mother
- Finnish: äitiys — state of being a mother
- French: maternité — state of being a mother
- German: Mutterschaft — state of being a mother
- German: Muttersein — state of being a mother
- German: Muttertum — state of being a mother
- Hindi: मातृत्व (mātŕtva) — state of being a mother
- Hungarian: anyaság — state of being a mother
- Indonesian: keibuan — state of being a mother
- Korean: 모성 (moseong) — state of being a mother
- Korean: 엄마인 것 (omma-in geot) — state of being a mother
- Central Kurdish: دایکی (daykî) — state of being a mother
- Lithuanian: motinystė — state of being a mother
- Macedonian: мајчинство (majčinstvo) — state of being a mother
- Māori: whaeatanga — state of being a mother
- Plautdietsch: Muttaschoft — state of being a mother
- Polish: macierzyństwo — state of being a mother
- Portuguese: maternidade — state of being a mother
- Russian: матери́нство (materínstvo) — state of being a mother
- Spanish: maternidad — state of being a mother
- Swahili: umama — state of being a mother
- Swedish: moderskap — state of being a mother
- Tamil: தாய்மை (tāymai) — state of being a mother
- Telugu: మాతృత్వము (mātr̥tvamu) — state of being a mother
- Turkish: annelik — state of being a mother
- Turkish: analık — state of being a mother
- Welsh: mamolaeth — state of being a mother
- Chinese Mandarin: 母親們 /母亲们 (mǔqīnmen) — mothers as a group
- Chinese Mandarin: 全體母親 /全体母亲 (quántǐ mǔqīn) — mothers as a group
- Chinese Mandarin: 母親群體 /母亲群体 (mǔqīn qúntǐ) — mothers as a group
- Finnish: äidit — mothers as a group
- Central Kurdish: دایکان (daykan) — mothers as a group
- Macedonian: мајчинство (majčinstvo) — mothers as a group
- Polish: matki — mothers as a group
- Portuguese: mães — mothers as a group
- Tamil: தாய்மார் (tāymār) — mothers as a group
Real reading context