Mother vs Maidservant - What's the difference?
mother | maidservant |
A (human) female who (a) s a child (b) gives birth to a baby (c) donates a fertilized egg or (d) donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone. Sometimes used in reference to a pregnant female, possibly as a shortened form of mother-to-be.
* 1988 , Robert Ferro, Second Son ,
* 1991 , (Susan Faludi), The Undeclared War Against American Women ,
A female parent of an animal.
(figuratively) A female ancestor.
* 1525 , ,
* 1844 , , Fragment on the Church , Volume 1,
(figuratively) A source or origin.
* 1606', '', Act 4, Scene 3, '''1866 , George Steevens (editor), ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare ,
* 1844 , , Fragment on the Church , Volume 1,
(when followed by a surname) A title of respect for one's mother-in-law.
(figuratively) Any elderly woman, especially within a particular community.
(figuratively) Any person or entity which performs mothering.
* The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. –Judges
* Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. –Galatians
A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation.
The principal piece of an astrolabe, into which the others are fixed.
The female superior or head of a religious house; an abbess, etc.
(obsolete) Hysterical passion; hysteria.
To treat as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture.
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Something that is the greatest or most significant of its kind.
(euphemistic, coarse, slang) Motherfucker.
(euphemistic, colloquial) A striking example.
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A female servant, a maid
:1611' ''Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy '''maidservant''', nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy '''maidservant may rest as well as thou. Deuteronomy 5:12-13 KJV
As a proper noun mother
is one's mother.As a noun maidservant is
a female servant, a maid.mother
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) ).Noun
(en noun)- I am visiting my mother'''(a) today.'' — ''My sister-in-law has just become a '''mother'''.(b)'' — ''Nutrients and oxygen obtained by the '''mother (c) are conveyed to the fetus.
- He had something of his mother in him, but this was because he realized that in the end only her love was unconditional, and in gratitude he had emulated her.
- The antiabortion iconography in the last decade featured the fetus but never the mother .
- The lioness was a mother of four cubs.
- And Ada[Adam] called his wyfe Heua[Eve] because she was the mother of all that lyveth
page 17,
- But one in the place of God and not God, is as it were a falsehood; it is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived.
- The Mediterranean was mother to many cultures and languages.
page 278,
- Alas, poor country: / Almost afraid to know itself! It cannot / Be call'd our mother , but our grave:
page 17,
- But one in the place of God and not God, is as it were a falsehood; it is the mother falsehood from which all idolatry is derived.
- Mother Smith, meet my cousin, Doug Jones.
5:7, KJV.
4:26, KJV.
- (Shakespeare)
Synonyms
* See also * metro-Antonyms
* (with regards to gender) father * (with regards to ancestry) daughter, son, childHypernyms
* (a female parent) parentCoordinate terms
* (a female parent) fatherDerived terms
* antimother * be mother * biological mother * birth mother * foster mother * grandmother, great-grandmother * Mother City * Mother Earth * motherfucker * Mothering Sunday * mother-in-law * motherland * motherload * mother lode * Mother's Day * mother-to-be * mother wit * motherwort * refrigerator mother * stepmother * surrogate motherVerb
(en verb)- She had seen fewer years than any of us, but she was of such superb Evehood and simplicity that she mothered us from the beginning.
References
*American Heritage Dictionary of the English LanguageFourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company 2003.
Etymology 2
Calque of Arabic .Noun
(en noun)- "The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun." — (Saddam Hussein)