The English word ‘mother’ (mom or momma) was first derived from the Greek ‘mētēr’, whose name was also connectedMother goddess to the Greek goddess Demeter. She is the mother of the gods.

The meaning of meter is the ‘womb.’ A similar Greek word is ‘metra’ meaning uterus. All our mothers are named after the goddess of the earth because she gives us all life, and from whose dark womb comes the light.

The Latins had called their supreme goddess Magna Mater, which in English is Great Mother. Their word for love and desire is ‘amo.’  A similar word is the the Hebrew word for mother, ima (אמא, pronounced /ˈimä/). Amah is a term for “mother” in several different languages. During the T’ang dynasty in China, the word Amah was used as an informal and poetic title for the Taoist goddess Queen Mother of the West.(wikipedia)

Mother in Old English is mōdor, and in Old Irish all the words Momo, Muhman, Mamman, Nang, and Ama signify mother. The Dutch say moeder, and German Mutter. In France, the French word for “mother” is “mère”, but most French call their mother “maman”.

Most Russians call their mothers mama, but the formal word is Мать ( Maht’). The Russian goddess of the earth is known as Mati-syra-zemla. The Fijian word for mother is nana, and here in America many people call their grandmothers nana.

There you have it. All our mothers are named after the mother of the gods, and the etymology of mother first comes to us from the Greek word meter, which you now know simply means womb.

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