A mother (or mum/mom) is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that united with a sperm which grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally acceptable definition for the term. The male equivalent is a father.
Read more about Mother: Etymology, Biological Mother, Non-biological Mother, Motherhood in Same-sex Relationships, Social Role, Heath and Safety Issues, Religious, Mother-offspring Conflict, Mothers in Art, Synonyms and Translations, Famous Motherhood Figures
Famous quotes containing the word mother:
“I was standing in the schoolyard waiting for a child when another mother came up to me. “Have you found work yet?” she asked. “Or are you still just writing?””
—Anne Tyler (b. 1941)
“Mothers often are too easily intimidated by their children’s negative reactions...When the child cries or is unhappy, the mother reads this as meaning that she is a failure. This is why it is so important for a mother to know...that the process of growing up involves by definition things that her child is not going to like. Her job is not to create a bed of roses, but to help him learn how to pick his way through the thorns.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“Is not wounded vanity the mother of all tragedies?”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)