Word.ws English Dictionary

motherwise

UK/ˈmʌð.əˌwaɪz/US/ˈmʌð.ɚˌwaɪz/

motherwise adverb: in the manner of a mother; maternally.

Adverb

motherwise (not comparable)

  1. In the manner of a mother; maternally.
    • The chubby father let the baby slide into one of the heavy wooden chairs, and the little girl instantly busied herself, motherwise, smoothing out the child's rumpled frock of clean faded calico, placing his fat legs to give a better balance in the big seat, straightening the cheap wide straw hat...1899, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 84, page 840
    • Then she looked at Paragot and the child, a yard or two in front of us. "He is the image of his father," she said almost reverentially. […] "Pauvre chéri," said Blanquette, motherwise.1906, William John Locke, The Beloved Vagabond

Origin of motherwise

mother + -wise

Questions about motherwise

What does motherwise mean?
Motherwise means in the manner of a mother; maternally.
What part of speech is motherwise?
Motherwise is an adverb.
How do you pronounce motherwise?
Motherwise is pronounced /ˈmʌð.əˌwaɪz/ (UK).

Words near motherwise in the dictionary

  1. motherumbah
  2. motherumbung
  3. motherward
  4. Motherwell
  5. Motherwell rules
  6. motherwise
  7. motherworld
  8. motherworlds
  9. motherwort
  10. motherworts
  11. mothery

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: motherwise (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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