See moth-er on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "moth",
"3": "-er",
"id2": "agent noun",
"pos2": "agent noun suffix"
},
"expansion": "moth + -er (agent noun suffix)",
"name": "af"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "",
"3": "er",
"id2": "occupation",
"pos2": "occupational suffix"
},
"expansion": "+ -er (occupational suffix)",
"name": "suf"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Coined from moth + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix) by analogy to mouser, with the hyphen kept to avoid confusion with mother (“female parent”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "moth-ers",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "mother",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"head": "moth-er"
},
"expansion": "moth-er (plural moth-ers)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms suffixed with -er (occupation)",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
7,
15
]
],
"ref": "1997 May, Backpacker, volume 25, number 4, page 30:",
"text": "Modern moth-ers use black lights, mercury vapor lamps, and portable generators to saturate the night sky[.]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
34,
42
]
],
"ref": "1997, Joshua M. Epstein, Nonlinear Dynamics, Mathematical Biology, and Social Science:",
"text": "Many species of bats are skilled ‘moth-ers’: they pursue them at speed after detecting them[.]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
5,
13
]
],
"ref": "2015, Tessa Wardley, The Countryside Book: 101 Ways To Play, Watch Wildlife, ...:",
"text": "Real moth-ers, mothies or lepidopterists, will use a mercury vapour bulb and even a special trap[.]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
19,
26
]
],
"ref": "2021 July 10, “Hey kids and families, Moth Week is almost here!”, in Mongabey Kids:",
"text": "“Everyone can be a moth-er!” - Liti Haramaty, National Moth Week co-founder.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
53,
60
]
],
"ref": "2026 May 26, LostInCR, “Some ID Statistics”, in iNatForum:",
"text": "Heiner Zeigler, one of the most prodigious avocation mothers I have seen on iNat, has put an enormous amount of effort into his web site documenting the Lepidoptera of Costa Rica.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
79,
87
]
],
"ref": "2026 July 20, “National Moth Week”, in Gardening For Life Project:",
"text": "National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, life cycles, and habitats of moths. “Moth-ers” of all ages and abilities are encouraged to learn about, observe, and document moths in their backyards, parks, and neighborhoods.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person (especially an entomologist) or animal that catches moths."
],
"id": "en-moth-er-en-noun-TanMLZFa",
"links": [
[
"entomologist",
"entomologist"
],
[
"moth",
"moth"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɒðə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɒθə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɔðɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɔθɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɑðɚ/",
"tags": [
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɑθɚ/",
"tags": [
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒðə(ɹ)"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒθə(ɹ)"
},
{
"other": "/ð/"
},
{
"other": "/θ/"
},
{
"other": "/z/"
},
{
"other": "/s/"
}
],
"word": "moth-er"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "moth",
"3": "-er",
"id2": "agent noun",
"pos2": "agent noun suffix"
},
"expansion": "moth + -er (agent noun suffix)",
"name": "af"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "",
"3": "er",
"id2": "occupation",
"pos2": "occupational suffix"
},
"expansion": "+ -er (occupational suffix)",
"name": "suf"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Coined from moth + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix) by analogy to mouser, with the hyphen kept to avoid confusion with mother (“female parent”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "moth-ers",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "mother",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"head": "moth-er"
},
"expansion": "moth-er (plural moth-ers)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms suffixed with -er (agent noun)",
"English terms suffixed with -er (occupation)",
"English terms with quotations",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"Rhymes:English/ɒðə(ɹ)",
"Rhymes:English/ɒðə(ɹ)/2 syllables",
"Rhymes:English/ɒθə(ɹ)"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
7,
15
]
],
"ref": "1997 May, Backpacker, volume 25, number 4, page 30:",
"text": "Modern moth-ers use black lights, mercury vapor lamps, and portable generators to saturate the night sky[.]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
34,
42
]
],
"ref": "1997, Joshua M. Epstein, Nonlinear Dynamics, Mathematical Biology, and Social Science:",
"text": "Many species of bats are skilled ‘moth-ers’: they pursue them at speed after detecting them[.]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
5,
13
]
],
"ref": "2015, Tessa Wardley, The Countryside Book: 101 Ways To Play, Watch Wildlife, ...:",
"text": "Real moth-ers, mothies or lepidopterists, will use a mercury vapour bulb and even a special trap[.]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
19,
26
]
],
"ref": "2021 July 10, “Hey kids and families, Moth Week is almost here!”, in Mongabey Kids:",
"text": "“Everyone can be a moth-er!” - Liti Haramaty, National Moth Week co-founder.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
53,
60
]
],
"ref": "2026 May 26, LostInCR, “Some ID Statistics”, in iNatForum:",
"text": "Heiner Zeigler, one of the most prodigious avocation mothers I have seen on iNat, has put an enormous amount of effort into his web site documenting the Lepidoptera of Costa Rica.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
79,
87
]
],
"ref": "2026 July 20, “National Moth Week”, in Gardening For Life Project:",
"text": "National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, life cycles, and habitats of moths. “Moth-ers” of all ages and abilities are encouraged to learn about, observe, and document moths in their backyards, parks, and neighborhoods.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person (especially an entomologist) or animal that catches moths."
],
"links": [
[
"entomologist",
"entomologist"
],
[
"moth",
"moth"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɒðə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɒθə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɔðɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɔθɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɑðɚ/",
"tags": [
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmɑθɚ/",
"tags": [
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒðə(ɹ)"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒθə(ɹ)"
},
{
"other": "/ð/"
},
{
"other": "/θ/"
},
{
"other": "/z/"
},
{
"other": "/s/"
}
],
"word": "moth-er"
}
Download raw JSONL data for moth-er meaning in All languages combined (3.5kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.