madre

See also: madré and mądre

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin māter, mātre (“mother, matron”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmadɾe/ [ˈma.ð̞ɾe]
• Rhymes: -adɾe
• Syllabification: ma‧dre

Noun

madre f (plural madres)

1. mother

   Synonym: ma

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish madre, from Latin mātre, singular ablative of māter, matris (“mother, matron”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmadɾe/ [ˈmad̪.ɾ̪e]
• Hyphenation: mad‧re

Noun

madre (Badlit spelling ᜋᜇ᜔ᜇᜒ)

1. a nun

   Synonyms: abadesa, mongha

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish madre.

Noun

madre

1. nun

French

Etymology

From Old French madre, developed (with dr < sdr < sr as e.g. in coudre) from earlier *mas(d)re, from Frankish *masur, from Proto-Germanic *masuraz (“veined, knobby or singed wood”). Cognate with German Maser, Old Norse mǫsurr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /madʁ/

Noun

madre m (uncountable)

1. veined wood

Related terms

• madré

Further reading

• “madre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese madre, from Latin māter, mātrem (“mother, matron”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmadɾe/ [ˈma.ð̞ɾɪ]
• Rhymes: -adɾe
• Hyphenation: ma‧dre

Noun

madre f (plural madres)

1. (formal) mother

   Synonym: nai

2. riverbed
3. kernel of a cable
4. (fishing) main line (in longline fishing the central line to which the branch lines with baits are attached)

   Synonym: estrallo

5. tartar

   Synonym: sarro

6. (also in the plural) womb; placenta

   Synonym: empreñadeira

7. (games) base, safe place, haven
8. (Catholicism, formal) nun

Derived terms

• esmadroar
• madreselva

References

• “madre”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “madre”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “madre”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “madre”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology

From the older form matre, from Latin mātrem, from Proto-Italic *mātēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.dre/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -adre
• Hyphenation: mà‧dre

Noun

madre f (plural madri)

1. mother

Adjective

madre (invariable)

1. (relational) mother

   lavoratrice madre ― working mother (literally, “mother worker”)

2. that constitutes the origin of subsequent facts and phenomena

   causa madre ― root cause

   • 2020 October 1, Massimo Basile, “Misogini, anti-immigrati, suprematisti: chi sono i Proud Boys sdoganati da Trump [Misogynists, suprematists: who are the Proud Boys legitimated by Trump]”, in la Repubblica‎:

     Si può far parte a vari livelli, da urlare in pubblico slogan pro occidente a farsi tatuare il nome Proud Boys fino alla prova madre: partecipare a scontri.

     You can be a part of it at various levels, from yelling pro-Western slogans in public to tattooing the name Proud Boys all the way to the principal test: participating in clashes.

Related terms

• dura madre
• madre sostitutiva
• madrecicala
• madreggiare
• madrelingua, madre lingua
• madrepatria
• madreperla
• madrevite
• madrina
• matre
• matrigna
• vicemadre

See also

• (family members) famiglia; cugino, figlio, figlia, fratello, madre, marito, moglie, nipote, nonna, nonno, padre, sorella, zia, zio ^{(Category: it:Family)}
• genitore
• mamma
• padre

Further reading

• madre in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• madre in Collins Italian-English Dictionary

Anagrams

• -derma, derma, derma-, merda

Ladino

Noun

madre f (Hebrew spelling מאדרי)

1. mother

   Coordinate term: padre (פאדרי)

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin mātrem, accusative singular of māter (“mother, matron”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmadɾe/

Noun

madre f (plural madres)

1. mother
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 4 (facsimile):

     A madre do que liurou / dos Leões Daniel / Eſſa do fogo Guardou / un Menỹo Dirrael.

     The Mother of Him who delivered Daniel from the lions saved a little boy of the tribe of Israel from the fire.

   Synonym: mãy

   Coordinate terms: pay, padre

2. riverbed
   • c. 1300, R. Martínez López, editor, General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV, Oviedo: Archivum, page 183:

     et nõ colle as agoas nẽ as torna aa madre ata quea noyte nõ aja as oras ygoães cõ odia. Et em esta rrazõ sobre este lugar da fonte do Nylo achamos que ouverõ [hũus] dos auçiaos hũa créénça vãa: queo cresçer da fonte do Nylo donde el sal por las terras et rrega as herdades, diziam que aquel cresçer quelle [vyña] daquelas neves de Etiopia

     and [the Nile] doesn't take the waters nor return them to the riverbed till the night has its hours equal to that of the day. Because of this, about this place of the source of the Nile, we find that some of the old scholars had a vain belief: that the flooding of the Nile's source, where it springs from the earth and waters the fields, was due to the snows of Ethiopia

Descendants

• Galician: madre
• Portuguese: madre

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022), “madre”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018), “madre”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese madre, from Latin māter, mātrem (“mother, matron”), from Proto-Italic *mātēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Doublet of mãe.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈma.dɾi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈma.dɾi/
  • (Porto Alegre) IPA^(key): /ˈma.dɾe/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈma.dɾɨ/ [ˈma.ðɾɨ]

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

Noun

madre f (plural madres)

1. (Christianity) mother (nun)

   Madre superiora. ― Mother superior.

2. (anatomy) womb
3. mold

Further reading

• “madre”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “madre”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “madre” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “madre”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “madre”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “madre”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin mātrem (“mother, matron”), from Proto-Italic *mātēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Compare English matron.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmadɾe/ [ˈma.ð̞ɾe]

• Audio (Bolivia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -adɾe
• Syllabification: ma‧dre

Noun

madre f (plural madres)

1. mother

   Synonym: mamá

2. (figuratively) mother (source or origin)

   Synonyms: causa, raíz, origen

3. (Christianity) mother (nun)
4. (hydrology) riverbed

   Synonyms: álveo, cauce, lecho

5. dregs (of a drink)
6. (Mexico, colloquial, vulgar, slang) thing

Coordinate terms

• padre

Derived terms

• (colloquial, Mexico) a toda madre
• célula madre
• chingar a su madre
• chingar la madre
• ciento y la madre
• comadre
• concha de de madre
• (vulgar) conchatumadre
• de madre
• (vulgar, colloquial) de puta madre
• desde el vientre de su madre
• (colloquial, Mexico) desmadre
• Día de la Madre
• (vulgar, Mexico) hasta la madre (“pregnant; fed up, full”)
• hasta la madre
• hijo de su madre
• la madre del cordero
• la madre putria
• la madre que te parió
• madecita (diminutive)
• madrastra
• madraza (augmentative)
• madre biológica
• madre de alquiler
• madre de clavo
• madre de familia
• madre de familias
• madre de leche
• madre de niños
• madre del cordero
• madre mía
• Madre Tierra
• (vulgar, Mexico) madrear
• madrina
• mal de madre
• masa madre
• mentada de madre
• mentar la madre
• ni madre
• placa madre
• puta madre
• qué poca madre
• reina madre
• roca madre
• sacar la madre
• salirse de madre
• (vulgar) tu madre
• valer madre

Related terms

• materno
• matriz

Descendants

• → Tagalog: madre

Further reading

• “madre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish madre, from Latin mātrem, singular accusative of māter (“mother, matron”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmadɾe/ [ˈmaː.d̪ɾɛ]
• Rhymes: -adɾe
• Syllabification: ma‧dre

Noun

madre (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜇ᜔ᜇᜒ)

1. (Catholicism) nun

   Synonyms: relihiyosa, sister

2. (geology) mother lode

   Synonym: inang-bato

3. (carpentry, in general) frame; spindle; principal piece, log, or beam

   Synonyms: hamba, balangkas

4. (chemistry) principal chemical vehicle (in a solution)
5. (archaic, rare) mother

   Synonyms: ina, nanay, inay, inang, mama

Derived terms

• madrehin
• madreng bintana
• madreng hagdan
• madreng kariton
• madreng pinto
• magmadre
• pagmadrehin
• pagmamadre

Related terms

• agwamadre
• komadre
• komadrona
• kumare
• madera
• Madre Dolorosa
• Madre Superyora
• madrekakaw
• madresilba
• madrigal
• madrina
• mare
• maternal
• maternidad
• materyal
• materyales
• materyalismo
• materyalista
• materyalistiko
• matrikula
• matrimonyal
• matrimonyo
• matris
• matrisidyo
• matriyarka
• matriyarkal
• matrona
• mudra
• ninang
• Sierra Madre

See also

• mongha
• padre
• pari

Further reading

• “madre”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018