godmother

English

Etymology

From Middle English godmoder, from Old English godmōdor (“godmother”), equivalent to god +‎ mother. Cognate with Old High German gotmuoter (“godmother”), Old Norse guðmóðir (“godmother”), Icelandic guðmóður (“godmother”), Swedish gudmoder (“godmother”), Danish gudmor (“godmother”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɒdmʌðə/
Audio (Berkshire, UK) (file)
Hyphenation: god‧mother

Noun

godmother (plural godmothers)

A woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner; a female godparent who sponsors the baptism of a child.

Synonyms

co-mother
cummer

Hypernyms

godparent

Related terms

godfather
godchild
goddaughter
godsib
godson

Translations

woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner

Asturian: madrina (ast) f
Basque: amabitxi (eu)
Catalan: padrina (ca) f
Chavacano: padrina
Chinese:
Mandarin: 乾娘／干娘 (zh) (gānniáng), 教母 (zh) (jiàomǔ)
Czech: kmotra (cs) f
Danish: gudmor, gudmoder
Dutch: meter (nl) f
Esperanto: baptopatrino
Finnish: kummitäti (fi)
French: marraine (fr) f
Galician: madriña f
Georgian: ნათლიდედა (natlideda), ნათლია n (natlia)
German: Patin (de) f, Patentante (de) f, Taufpatin (de) f, Gotte (de) f (Swiss, Alemannic), Firmgodl f (Austrian), Firmpatin (de) f, Godel f (South German), Godl (de) f (Austrian, Bavarian), Gote (de) f (regional), Taufgodl f (Austrian), Gevatterin (de) f
Greek: νονά (el) f (noná)
Ido: baptomatro (io)
Indonesian: ibu baptis
Ingrian: naiskooma
Irish: máthair bhaistí f
Italian: comare (it) f (godmother of one's child), madrina (it) f (one's own godmother)
Japanese: 教母 (きょうぼ, kyōbo), 代母 (だいぼ, daibo)
Javanese: nini among
Latin: matrina f
Latvian: krustmāte
Macedonian: кума f (kuma)
Norman: mârraine f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: gudmor m or f
Nynorsk: gudmor f
Occitan: mairina (oc) f
Persian: مادرخوانده‎ (fa) (mâdarxânde), مادرندر‎ (mâdarandar)
Polish: matka chrzestna (pl), chrzestna (pl) f
Portuguese: madrinha (pt) f (reflects the relationship to the baptized child); comadre (pt) f (reflects the relationship to the parents of the baptized child, not to the child)
Romanian: nașă (ro) f, nună (ro) f
Romansch: madritscha f, madretscha f
Russian: крёстная мать f (krjóstnaja matʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: muime f, màthair-bhaiste f, bana-ghoistidh m
Sicilian: cummari f or f pl (godmother of one's child), madrina f (one's own godmother)
Slovak: krstná mama f (reflects the relationship to the baptized child); kmotra f (reflects the relationship to the parents of the baptized child, not to the child)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: kmótša f
Spanish: madrina (es) f, comadre (es) f
Swedish: gudmor (sv) c, gudmoder (sv) c
Tagalog: inaama, ninang (tl), madrina
Taos: kumàyli’ína
Ukrainian: хрещена мати f (xreščena maty), хрещена f (xreščena), матка f (matka), кума f (kuma)
Volapük: spönan (vo) m or f, jispönan f
Welsh: mam fedydd f

Verb

godmother (third-person singular simple present godmothers, present participle godmothering, simple past and past participle godmothered)

(transitive) To act as godmother to.
- 1909, H. G. Wells, Tono-Bungay
  The servants took to her – as they say – she godmothered three Susans during her rule, the coachman's, the gardener's and the Up Hill gamekeeper's.

References

godmother on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Middle English

Noun

godmother

(Late Middle English) Alternative form of godmoder