mother (1), moder, modir, mooder, #modre

& a. [A. S. móder, módor, módur; cogn. with Dut. moeder; Icel. módhir ; Dan. & Sw. moder ; Ger. mutter ; O. H. Ger. mustar ; Irish & Gael. mathair ; Ru . mate; Lith. moté ; Lat. mater ; Gr. meter ; Sansc. mat a , matri; Ital., Sp. & Port. madre ; Fr. mère.] A. As substantive : I. Lit .: A female parent, espec. of the human race; a woman who has borne a child; correlative of son or daughter . II. Figuratively : IMG:content-1421.png:[blocks in formation] "Through this the mother - naked trooper introduces his head and neck." -Carlyle : Sartor Resartus , bk. i., ch. vii. mother-of-pearl, s . 1. Zool. & Comm.: The internal layer of oyster and other nacreous or pearly shelts. It is of silvery brilliance and iridescent. This is due to the alternate layers of carbonate of lime and membrane. 2. Entom .: A moth of the family Botyde. Mother- of -pearl micrometer: The micrometer of Cavallo. A thin, semi-transparent slip of mother of-pearl, one-twentieth of an inch wide, is ruled with fine graduations, and mounted within the tube at the focus of the eye-lens of the telescope, where the image of the object is formed. The divided edge if brought into convenient proximity to the image. mother-of-you sands, s. Bot .: Linaria cymbal aria .