Where does “mother” come from?
Mother comes from Middle English, which derives from Proto-Indo-European méh₂tēr, the word for a female parent.
mother (English): A female who has given birth to a baby; A human...
Definitions
- A female who has given birth to a baby; A human...
Ancestry of “mother”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | modren | plural of moder |
| 2 | Middle English | -en | Denotes the past participle form when attached to... |
| 3 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 4 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 5 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |