Search the Dictionary

e quality or state of being iridescent; a prismatic play of color; as, the iridescence of mother-of-pearl.

The principal goddess worshiped by the Egyptians. She was regarded as the mother of Horus, and the sister and wife of Osiris. The Egyptians adored her as the goddess of fecundity, and as the great benefactress of their country, who instructed their ancestors in the art of agriculture.

Relatives; persons of the same family or race. The father, mother, and the kinbeside. Dryden. You are of kin, and so a friend to their persons. Bacon.

rips, and forming a network; as, the lattice of a window; -- called also latticework. The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice. Judg. v. 28.

m; to depart from; as, to leave the house. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. Gen. ii. 24.

is voyage for to let Chaucer. Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, But to her mother Nature all her care she lets. Spenser. Let me alone in choosing of my wife. Chaucer.

Dear; beloved. [Obs., except in poetry.] "My liefe mother." Chaucer. "My liefest liege." Shak. As thou art lief and dear. Tennyson.

, breeding by a certain family line of descent, especially in the selection of the dam or mother. -- Line conch (Zoöl.), a spiral marine shell (Fasciolaria distans), of Florida and the West Indies. It is marked by narrow, dark, revolving lines. -- Line engraving. (a) Engraving in which the effects are produced by lin…

resemblance of its flower spikes to the tuft of a lion's tail. L. Cardiaca is the common motherwort.

e love of brothers and sisters. Of all the dearest bonds we prove Thou countest sons' and mothers' love Most sacred, most Thine own. Keble.

A child's word for mother.

Mother-of-pearl.

A child born of a white father and Indian mother. [S. Amer.]

Mother; -- word of tenderness and familiarity. [Written also mama.] Tell tales papa and mamma. Swift.

ourished for a time by milk, or an analogous fluid, secreted by the mammary glands of the mother.

A child brought up by its grandmother; a spoiled child. [R.] O, you are a more mammothrept in judgment. B. Jonson.

A child's name for mamma, mother.

Of or pertaining to a mother; becoming to a mother; motherly; as, maternal love; maternal tenderness.

In a motherly manner.

The state of being a mother; the character or relation of a mother.