mither

English

WOTD – 21 July 2012

Etymology 1

Late 17th century, of unknown origin;

• Possibly related to Middle English bemothered (“confused, perplexed”), itself probably related to Old English mēþe (“exhausting, troublesome”), Old Norse móðr (“angry, frustrated”), Middle Dutch moeden (“to tire, exhaust, disturb, trouble”).
• Possibly allied to Welsh moedro (“to worry or bother”), though according to the GPC, the latter is borrowed from English.
• Alternatively, possibly tied to Welsh meidda (“to beg for whey”), from maidd (“whey”).
• Perhaps from Welsh meiddio (“to dare or venture”), a variant of beiddio (“to dare”).

The "dd" in Welsh corresponds in sound to the "th" in mither, and English also has moider and moither.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪðə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -aɪðə(ɹ)

Verb

mither (third-person singular simple present mithers, present participle mithering, simple past and past participle mithered)

1. (intransitive, Northern England, especially Manchester) To make an unnecessary fuss, moan, bother.
   • 6 February 2020, “The parable of the plug”, in The Economist:

     The European Commission is pondering how to compel phone companies to come up with a universal plug for their chargers. Apple, which uses its own design for its charger cables, is mithering about the change.

2. (transitive, Northern England, especially Manchester) To pester or irritate someone.
   • 11 June 2019, “Women's World Cup: England v Argentina – Keira Walsh 'inspired' by opponents”, in BBC Sport:

     "Every night after work I'd mither [pester] my dad to take me out into the field and practise. There were definitely times when he didn't want to do it, but he never said no.

Usage notes

• (pester, irritate): Usually describes the actions of a child.

Translations

intransitive: to mither

• Interlingua: preoccupar se de bagatelas
• Portuguese: fazer queixume
• Russian: раздража́ть (ru) (razdražátʹ)

transitive to mither

• Dutch: lastigvallen (nl)
• Interlingua: importunar
• Portuguese: importunar (pt)
• Russian: докуча́ть (ru) (dokučátʹ), донима́ть (ru) (donimátʹ)

Etymology 2

Variant from Middle English muther, muthir, from Old English mōdor (“mother”). More at mother.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪðə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪðə(ɹ)

Noun

mither (plural mithers)

1. (Scotland and Northern England) mother

See also

• mithered

Anagrams

• hermit

Norman

Etymology

From Old French mirer (“to look at; to watch”), from Latin mīror, mīrārī (“be amazed at”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Verb

mither

1. (Jersey, reflexive, s'mither) to look at oneself in the mirror

Scots

Alternative forms

• medder
• midder (Shetland)
• mideer
• moder (archaic)
• moeder

Etymology

From Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɪðər]
• (Mid Northern Scots, Shetlandic) IPA^(key): [ˈmɪdər]

Noun

mither (plural mithers)

1. mother
   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     'There you gang,' she cries, 'broking wi' thae wearifu' Pharisees o' Caulds, whae daurna darken your mither's door! A bonnie dutiful child, quotha! Wumman, hae ye nae pride, or even the excuse o' a tinkler-lass?'

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• clocks-mither (“a hen with chickens”)
• grandmither (“grandmother”)
• guid-mither (“mother-in-law”)
• mither tongue (“mother tongue, native language”)
• mither wit (“native wit”)
• mither-brither (“maternal uncle”)