mother (3)

[An extension of mud (q.v.); cf. O. Dan. modder =(1) mud, mire; (2) lees, dregs; Dut.moer; Ger.moder = mud, mold; mutter =dregs, sediment.) A thick, slimy substance concreting in liquors; the lees or scum of liquors concreted, particularly in vinegar. "As touching the mother or lees of oile-oliue."-P. Hol land: Pliny , bk. xxiii., ch. ii. mother-liquor, s . Chem.: Mother-water. The portion of a mixed solution which remains after the le soluble salts or other bodies have crystallized out. By concentration the mother-liquor may be made to furnish either a further yield of the same substance or a deposit of another and more soluble body, according to the character of the solution.