Standard Lemma guide

motherly

adj · adv · 4 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: /ˈmʌðəli/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈmʌðɚli/
  • CMU ARPABET: M AH1 DH ER0 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

In a way pertaining to, befitting, or of a mother.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

befitting a mother; warm and nurturing

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adverb

Meaning 4

in a maternal manner; as a mother

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she loved her students almost maternally

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: maternally

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English moderly, from Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), equivalent to mother + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: amënor — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Arabic: أُمِّيّ (ʔummiyy) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Arabic: أُمُومِيّ (ʔumūmiyy) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Armenian: մայրական (mayrakan) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Belarusian: мацяры́нскі (macjarýnski) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Belarusian: ма́тчынскі (mátčynski) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Bulgarian: ма́йчински (májčinski) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Bulgarian: ма́йчин (májčin) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Catalan: maternal — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Czech: mateřský — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Danish: moderlig — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Finnish: äidillinen — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • German: mütterlich — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Hebrew: אִמָּהִי (imahi) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Hungarian: anyai — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Irish: máithriúil — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Italian: materno — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Lithuanian: motiniškas — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Macedonian: мајчински (majčinski) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Persian: مادرانه (mâdarâne) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Plautdietsch: muttalich — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Polish: macierzyński — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Polish: matczyny — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Russian: матери́нский (materínskij) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Serbo-Croatian: ма̀те̄ри́њӣ — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Serbo-Croatian: ма̏терӣнскӣ — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Serbo-Croatian: màtērinjī — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Serbo-Croatian: mȁterīnskī — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Slovak: materský — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Slovene: materinski — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Slovene: materin — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Swedish: moderlig — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Ukrainian: матери́нський (materýnsʹkyj) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Ukrainian: ма́терній (máternij) — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving
  • Welsh: mamol — befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving