motherland

moth-er-land · noun

imported

Definitions

noun

  1. 1.

    One's native country; the country of one's ancestors or birth, regarded with patriotic sentiment.

  2. 2.

    A country regarded as the origin or source of something.

Forms

plural: motherlands

Related words

Antonyms: foreign land
See also: fatherland, homeland, nation, patriotism
Synonyms: fatherland, home country, homeland, native land

Etymology

A compound of mother + land, translating or influenced by German Mutterland and Russian rodina-mat (родина-мать). The metaphor personifies the country as a nurturing mother.