"motherly" meaning in English

See motherly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈmʌðəli/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈmʌðɚli/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-motherly.wav Forms: more motherly [comparative], most motherly [superlative]
Etymology: From Middle English moderly, from Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), equivalent to mother + -ly. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|moderly}} Middle English moderly, {{inh|en|ang|mōdorlīċ|t=motherly, maternal}} Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), {{inh|en|gem-pro|*mōdērlīkaz|t=motherly, maternal}} Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), {{suffix|en|mother|ly|id2=adjectival}} mother + -ly Head templates: {{en-adj}} motherly (comparative more motherly, superlative most motherly)
  1. Befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving. Synonyms: maternal, motherful, motherlike Derived forms: motherliness Related terms: earth-motherly Translations (befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving): amënor (Albanian), أُمِّيّ (ʔummiyy) (Arabic), أُمُومِيّ (ʔumūmiyy) (Arabic), մայրական (mayrakan) (Armenian), мацяры́нскі (macjarýnski) (Belarusian), ма́тчынскі (mátčynski) (Belarusian), ма́йчински (májčinski) (Bulgarian), ма́йчин (májčin) (Bulgarian), mateřský (Czech), moderlig (Danish), äidillinen (Finnish), mütterlich (German), אִמָּהִי (imahi) (Hebrew), anyai (Hungarian), materno (Italian), motiniškas (Lithuanian), мајчински (majčinski) (Macedonian), مادرانه (mâdarâne) (Persian), macierzyński (Polish), matczyny (Polish), матери́нский (materínskij) (Russian), ма̀те̄ри́њӣ [Cyrillic, masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), ма̏терӣнскӣ [Cyrillic, masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), màtērinjī [Roman, masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), mȁterīnskī [Roman, masculine] (Serbo-Croatian), materský (Slovak), materinski (Slovene), materin (Slovene), moderlig (Swedish), матери́нський (materýnsʹkyj) (Ukrainian), ма́терній (máternij) (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-motherly-en-adj-5R9Knar3 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ly (adjectival), Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Albanian translations, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with Armenian translations, Terms with Belarusian translations, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hebrew translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Lithuanian translations, Terms with Macedonian translations, Terms with Persian translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations, Terms with Slovak translations, Terms with Slovene translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Ukrainian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 95 5 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ly (adjectival): 87 13 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 90 10 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 94 6 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 96 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Albanian translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Armenian translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Belarusian translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 94 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 95 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 90 10 Disambiguation of Terms with Hebrew translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 93 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Lithuanian translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Macedonian translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Persian translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 88 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 93 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Slovak translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Slovene translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 91 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Ukrainian translations: 91 9

Adverb

IPA: /ˈmʌðəli/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈmʌðɚli/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-motherly.wav Forms: more motherly [comparative], most motherly [superlative]
Etymology: From Middle English moderly, from Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), equivalent to mother + -ly. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|moderly}} Middle English moderly, {{inh|en|ang|mōdorlīċ|t=motherly, maternal}} Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), {{inh|en|gem-pro|*mōdērlīkaz|t=motherly, maternal}} Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), {{suffix|en|mother|ly|id2=adjectival}} mother + -ly Head templates: {{en-adv}} motherly (comparative more motherly, superlative most motherly)
  1. In a way pertaining to, befitting, or of a mother. Synonyms: maternally
    Sense id: en-motherly-en-adv-xEdWhONl
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        "3": "ly",
        "id2": "adjectival"
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      "expansion": "mother + -ly",
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English moderly, from Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), equivalent to mother + -ly.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more motherly",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    },
    {
      "form": "most motherly",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
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      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "motherliness"
        }
      ],
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              19,
              27
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          "ref": "1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC, page 6:",
          "text": "Clover was a stout motherly mare approaching middle life[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving."
      ],
      "id": "en-motherly-en-adj-5R9Knar3",
      "links": [
        [
          "mother",
          "mother"
        ],
        [
          "nurturing",
          "nurturing"
        ],
        [
          "protective",
          "protective"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "earth-motherly"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "maternal"
        },
        {
          "word": "motherful"
        },
        {
          "word": "motherlike"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "sq",
          "lang": "Albanian",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "amënor"
        },
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "ʔummiyy",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "أُمِّيّ"
        },
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "ʔumūmiyy",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "أُمُومِيّ"
        },
        {
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "mayrakan",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "մայրական"
        },
        {
          "code": "be",
          "lang": "Belarusian",
          "roman": "macjarýnski",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "мацяры́нскі"
        },
        {
          "code": "be",
          "lang": "Belarusian",
          "roman": "mátčynski",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "ма́тчынскі"
        },
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "májčinski",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "ма́йчински"
        },
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "májčin",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "ма́йчин"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "mateřský"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "moderlig"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "äidillinen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "mütterlich"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "imahi",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "אִמָּהִי"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "anyai"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "materno"
        },
        {
          "code": "lt",
          "lang": "Lithuanian",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "motiniškas"
        },
        {
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "majčinski",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "мајчински"
        },
        {
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "mâdarâne",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "مادرانه"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "macierzyński"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "matczyny"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "materínskij",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "матери́нский"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "tags": [
            "Cyrillic",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ма̀те̄ри́њӣ"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "tags": [
            "Cyrillic",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ма̏терӣнскӣ"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "tags": [
            "Roman",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "màtērinjī"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "tags": [
            "Roman",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "mȁterīnskī"
        },
        {
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "materský"
        },
        {
          "code": "sl",
          "lang": "Slovene",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "materinski"
        },
        {
          "code": "sl",
          "lang": "Slovene",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "materin"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "moderlig"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "materýnsʹkyj",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "матери́нський"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "máternij",
          "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
          "word": "ма́терній"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmʌðəli/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
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      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-motherly.wav",
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    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmʌðɚli/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "motherly"
}

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        "3": "mōdorlīċ",
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      "name": "inh"
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  "etymology_text": "From Middle English moderly, from Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), equivalent to mother + -ly.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more motherly",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    },
    {
      "form": "most motherly",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
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          "ref": "1554, Iohn Bradford, Certain Most Godly, Fruitful, and Comfortable Letters of Such True Saintes and Holy Martyrs of God, […], published 1564, page 288:",
          "text": "The mother sometime beateth the child, but yet her hart melteth vpon it euen in the very beating, and therefore she casteth the rodde into the fier, and colleth the childe, geueth it an apple and dandleth it moste motherly.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
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          "ref": "1663, Abraham Cowley, The Danger of Procrastination, published 1669:",
          "text": "I Am glad that you approve and applaud my design, of withdrawing my self from all tumult and business of the World; and consecrating the little rest of my time to those studies, to which Nature had so Motherly inclined me, and from which Fortune like a Step-mother has so long detained me.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "1887, George Mac Donald, Home Again, London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., pages 52–53:",
          "text": "To the father it would have been the worst of his loss to see his son wiping the sweat and dust from the forehead his mother had been so motherly proud of, and hear the heavy sigh with which he would sink in the not too easy chair that was all his haven after the tossing of the day’s weary ground[-]swell.",
          "type": "quote"
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          ],
          "ref": "1925, Kamala Krishna, Torchbearers: A Story of the Realms of the Mastersouls, page 239:",
          "text": "Mrs. Rutherford looked motherly at the eager girl and caressed her curls[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a way pertaining to, befitting, or of a mother."
      ],
      "id": "en-motherly-en-adv-xEdWhONl",
      "links": [
        [
          "mother",
          "mother"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "maternally"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmʌðəli/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-motherly.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cd/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cd/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmʌðɚli/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "motherly"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms suffixed with -ly (adjectival)",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Albanian translations",
    "Terms with Arabic translations",
    "Terms with Armenian translations",
    "Terms with Belarusian translations",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with Danish translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hebrew translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Lithuanian translations",
    "Terms with Macedonian translations",
    "Terms with Persian translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
    "Terms with Slovak translations",
    "Terms with Slovene translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Ukrainian translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "motherliness"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "moderly"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English moderly",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "mōdorlīċ",
        "t": "motherly, maternal"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*mōdērlīkaz",
        "t": "motherly, maternal"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "mother",
        "3": "ly",
        "id2": "adjectival"
      },
      "expansion": "mother + -ly",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English moderly, from Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), equivalent to mother + -ly.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more motherly",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most motherly",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "motherly (comparative more motherly, superlative most motherly)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "earth-motherly"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              19,
              27
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC, page 6:",
          "text": "Clover was a stout motherly mare approaching middle life[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "mother",
          "mother"
        ],
        [
          "nurturing",
          "nurturing"
        ],
        [
          "protective",
          "protective"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmʌðəli/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-motherly.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cd/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cd/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmʌðɚli/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "maternal"
    },
    {
      "word": "motherful"
    },
    {
      "word": "motherlike"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "sq",
      "lang": "Albanian",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "amënor"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "ʔummiyy",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "أُمِّيّ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "ʔumūmiyy",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "أُمُومِيّ"
    },
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "mayrakan",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "մայրական"
    },
    {
      "code": "be",
      "lang": "Belarusian",
      "roman": "macjarýnski",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "мацяры́нскі"
    },
    {
      "code": "be",
      "lang": "Belarusian",
      "roman": "mátčynski",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "ма́тчынскі"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "májčinski",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "ма́йчински"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "májčin",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "ма́йчин"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "mateřský"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "moderlig"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "äidillinen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "mütterlich"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "imahi",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "אִמָּהִי"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "anyai"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "materno"
    },
    {
      "code": "lt",
      "lang": "Lithuanian",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "motiniškas"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "majčinski",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "мајчински"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "mâdarâne",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "مادرانه"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "macierzyński"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "matczyny"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "materínskij",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "матери́нский"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "tags": [
        "Cyrillic",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ма̀те̄ри́њӣ"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "tags": [
        "Cyrillic",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ма̏терӣнскӣ"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "tags": [
        "Roman",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "màtērinjī"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "tags": [
        "Roman",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "mȁterīnskī"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "materský"
    },
    {
      "code": "sl",
      "lang": "Slovene",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "materinski"
    },
    {
      "code": "sl",
      "lang": "Slovene",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "materin"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "moderlig"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "materýnsʹkyj",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "матери́нський"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "máternij",
      "sense": "befitting a mother; warm, caring, nurturing, protective, loving",
      "word": "ма́терній"
    }
  ],
  "word": "motherly"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "English terms suffixed with -ly (adjectival)",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Albanian translations",
    "Terms with Arabic translations",
    "Terms with Armenian translations",
    "Terms with Belarusian translations",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with Danish translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hebrew translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Lithuanian translations",
    "Terms with Macedonian translations",
    "Terms with Persian translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
    "Terms with Slovak translations",
    "Terms with Slovene translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Ukrainian translations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "moderly"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English moderly",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "mōdorlīċ",
        "t": "motherly, maternal"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*mōdērlīkaz",
        "t": "motherly, maternal"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "mother",
        "3": "ly",
        "id2": "adjectival"
      },
      "expansion": "mother + -ly",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English moderly, from Old English mōdorlīċ (“motherly, maternal”), from Proto-Germanic *mōdērlīkaz (“motherly, maternal”), equivalent to mother + -ly.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more motherly",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most motherly",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "motherly (comparative more motherly, superlative most motherly)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              214,
              222
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1554, Iohn Bradford, Certain Most Godly, Fruitful, and Comfortable Letters of Such True Saintes and Holy Martyrs of God, […], published 1564, page 288:",
          "text": "The mother sometime beateth the child, but yet her hart melteth vpon it euen in the very beating, and therefore she casteth the rodde into the fier, and colleth the childe, geueth it an apple and dandleth it moste motherly.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              201,
              209
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1663, Abraham Cowley, The Danger of Procrastination, published 1669:",
          "text": "I Am glad that you approve and applaud my design, of withdrawing my self from all tumult and business of the World; and consecrating the little rest of my time to those studies, to which Nature had so Motherly inclined me, and from which Fortune like a Step-mother has so long detained me.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              137,
              145
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1887, George Mac Donald, Home Again, London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., pages 52–53:",
          "text": "To the father it would have been the worst of his loss to see his son wiping the sweat and dust from the forehead his mother had been so motherly proud of, and hear the heavy sigh with which he would sink in the not too easy chair that was all his haven after the tossing of the day’s weary ground[-]swell.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              23,
              31
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1925, Kamala Krishna, Torchbearers: A Story of the Realms of the Mastersouls, page 239:",
          "text": "Mrs. Rutherford looked motherly at the eager girl and caressed her curls[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a way pertaining to, befitting, or of a mother."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "mother",
          "mother"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmʌðəli/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-motherly.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cd/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cd/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-motherly.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmʌðɚli/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "maternally"
    }
  ],
  "word": "motherly"
}

Download raw JSONL data for motherly meaning in English (12.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-04-03 using wiktextract (aeaf2a1 and fb63907). 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.