English → Latin
“mother” in Latin
mātermother (female parent); mother (source, origin); matron of a housemātrīxuterus, womb; dam (non-human female animal kept for breeding); source, originparēnsparent, mother, father; founder, ancestorprōcrĕātrixshe that brings forthgenitorparent, father, sire, begetter, procreatorpariōto bear, to give birth to; to spawn, produce, generate, beget; to procure, acquiremātrī̆mushaving a living mother
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
mother
PROP., mater: matrix (only of animals; ☞ Procreatrix for mater does not occur in the proper sense, nor is genitrix so used in classic prone; hence both must be avoided): to become a mother, partum edere; by anyone, gravidum fieri ex or de aliquo; matrem fieri de aliquo (Ov., Met., 3, 270): to be a mother, peperisse: to be the mother of three children, trium liberorum matrem esse; tres liberos peperisse: children of one mother, liberi eadem matre nati; liberi uterini (Cod. Just., 5, 61, 2): that has a mother still alive, matrimus: on the mother’s side, maternus: that has lost his mother, matre orbus.
Figuratively, producer, nourisher, mater (general term); parens, procreatrix, genitrix (parens to be used when the substantive is masculine in Latin): the earth is the common mother of all mortals, terra est communis mater omnium mortalium: philosophy is the mother of all sciences, procreatrix quaedam et quasi parens omnium artium est philosophia: frugality is the mother of virtues, genitrix virtutum frugalitas: honor is the mother (promoter) of the arts, honos alit artes.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for mother?
- The usual Latin words for “mother” are māter, mātrīx, parēns; also prōcrĕātrix, genitor, pariō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.