Word.ws English Dictionary

a-mothering

a-mothering noun: the practice of visiting one's literal or figurative mother or mother church (compare Mothering Sunday); also called mothering.

Noun

a-mothering (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) The practice of visiting one's literal or figurative mother or mother church (compare Mothering Sunday); also called mothering.
    • Mothering-.—In former days, when the Roman Catholic was the established religion, it was the custom for people to visit their Mother Church on MidLent Sunday, and to make their offerings at the high altar. ...the now remaining practice of Mothering, or going to visit parents upon Mid-Lent Sunday...1905, John Brand, William Carew Hazlitt, “National Faiths”, in Faiths and folklore: a dictionary of national beliefs, Vol 2, page 424
    • "Mothering Sunday," the fourth Sunday in Lent, when absent sons and daughters — particularly the young apprentices — would return to their homes with some little present for both parents, but more especially for the mother. ...Imagine the ... pride of the mother in the simple gift, and the...1894 March, Mary B. Merrill, “Mothering Sunday”, in Mary Mapes Dodge, editor, St. Nicholas: a monthly magazine for boys and girls, volume 21, part 1, page 388

Questions about a-mothering

What does a-mothering mean?
A-mothering means the practice of visiting one's literal or figurative mother or mother church (compare Mothering Sunday); also called mothering.
What part of speech is a-mothering?
A-mothering is a noun.

Words near a-mothering in the dictionary

  1. a-machine
  2. a-machines
  3. A-minor
  4. A-minors
  5. a-mornings
  6. a-mothering
  7. A-movement
  8. A-movements
  9. a-nightertime
  10. A-OK
  11. a-okay

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a-mothering (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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