mother figure

English

WOTD – 14 May 2023

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌðə ˌfɪɡə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌðɚ ˌfɪɡɚ/, /-ɡjɚ/
• Hyphenation: moth‧er fig‧ure

Noun

mother figure (plural mother figures)

1. One (especially an older woman) who behaves as, is regarded as equivalent to, or represents a mother for another person or group of people.

   Coordinate term: father figure

Translations

one who behaves as, is regarded as equivalent to, or represents a mother

• Dutch: moederfiguur f
• Finnish: äitihahmo
• Macedonian: ма́јчинска по́ткрепа f (májčinska pótkrepa), ма́јчински лик m (májčinski lik)
• Polish: autorytet (pl) m
• Portuguese: figura materna f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: majčinska figura f, materinska figura f

• Spanish: figura materna f
• Swedish: modersfigur c, modersgestalt c
• Welsh: ffigwr mamol m

See also

• authority figure
• role model

Further reading

• father figure on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “mother figure, n.” under “mother, n.¹ (and int.)”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023.
• “mother figure” in the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• “mother figure, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, 1993, →ISBN.
• “mother figure”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “mother figure”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.