motherlessadj.¹n.adv.

Brit.

/ˈmʌðələs/, U.S.

/ˈməðərləs/, Australian English

/ˈmʌðələs/, South African English

/ˈmʌðələs/

Forms: see mother n.¹ and -less suffix.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: mother n.¹, -less suffix.

Etymology: < mother n.¹ + -less suffix. Compare Middle Dutch moederloos (Dutch moederloos), Middle Low German mōderlōs, early modern German mutterlos (German mutterlos), Old Icelandic móðurlauss.In early use often after post-classical Latin pupillus orphan (Vulgate: see pupil n.¹): see note at sense B. In sense A. 2 originally short for motherless broke (compare sense C.). In South African usage (see sense A. 3 and motherless drunk at sense C. (compare quot. 1973 at sense C.)) probably after Afrikaans moederloos dronk (probably an alteration of moedeloos dronk hopelessly drunk).

A. adj.¹

1. Lacking a mother; left without a mother. In early use also: †orphaned (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [adjective] > having (specific) parents > having a mother > motherless

motherlessOE

unmothered1821

OE Homily: Sermonem Angelorum Nomina (Corpus Cambr. 419) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 228 Fylstan widewum and fæderleasum and moderleasum cildum.

c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 78 Ðis meiden was baðe federles & moderles.

?a1300 St. Eustace (Digby) 131 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 214 Hou shal ich ou—moderlese—feden?

c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 200 (MED) Cursed be he..þat paruerteþ þe dom of a straunge man, of þe modurles child, of þe widewe.

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) James i. 27 To visite fadirles and modirles children [L. pupillos].

1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 40 Many poure children that wer fadir and modir lees.

a1500 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 15th Cent. (1939) 10 (MED) Nowe without broþer and spowse y moste hens pas; fadurles & modurles y am lafte here.

1548 T. Cranmer Catechismus sig. Niv^v Oppressers of fatherles and motherles children.

1588 J. Aske Elizabetha Triumphans 10 Destroy both Cocke and Hennes, Leave ne're a Chicke but shalbe motherles.

1638 J. Kirke Seven Champions i. sig. C3 I beseech you take pitty on me a Motherlesse child.

1684 E. Ravenscroft Dame Dobson ii. ix. 23 My Dame took me in Fatherless and Motherless.

1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull in his Senses iv. 19 The three poor Motherless Children.

1778 F. Burney Evelina II. xix. 165 Though motherless, though worse than fatherless, bereft from infancy of the two first and greatest blessings of life, never has she had cause to deplore their loss.

1829 R. Southey All for Love iii. 25 An only child and motherless.

1871 C. Rossetti Sing Song 125 Motherless baby and babyless mother.

1901 G. S. Layard Mrs. Lynn Linton i. 3 Eliza's was practically a motherless childhood.

1971 New Society 4 Nov. 866/2 Motherless families which still had the father's wage.

1987 M. Drabble Radiant Way 17 Charles had married Liz in order to provide the three motherless babes with a proper family life.

2. Australian slang. Very poor, having no money. Also as an intensifier: total, utter. Cf. sense C.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > poverty > [adjective] > poor > lacking money

to the boneOE

silverlessc1325

pennilessc1330

moneylessc1400

impecunious1596

crossless1600

penceless1605

unmoneyed1606

coinless1614

emptya1643

out of pocket1679

money-bound1710

broke1716

embarrassed1744

stiver cramped1785

plackless1786

taper1789

poundlessa1794

shillingless1797

unpennied1804

fundless1809

impecuniary1814

hard up1821

soldier-thighed1825

cashless1833

stiverless1839

fly-blown1853

strapped1857

stick1859

tight1859

stone-broke1886

stony1886

oofless1888

stony-broke1890

motherless1906

penny-pinched1918

skinned1924

skint1925

on the beach1935

potless1936

boracic1959

uptight1967

brassic1982

1906 E. Dyson In Roaring Fifties xiv. 200 ‘Not a white man round but the motherless drunk there’, said Mike. One of the cattle-dogs had returned to the side of the sleeper.

1916 A. Wright Under Cloud 35 I'm stone motherless meself an' I could do with that hundred Booth is offerin'.

1958 Bulletin (Sydney) 11 June 19/2 The worrying starts when he is flat, skinned, motherless, stony hearts-of-oak, or has ‘gone bad’.

1976 T. A. G. Hungerford in B. Bennett New Country 34 He let half-a-dozen others out at the same time. The motherless hooer.

3. South African slang. Drunk; intoxicated.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk

fordrunkenc897

drunkena1050

cup-shottenc1330

drunka1400

inebriate1497

overseenc1500

liquor1509

fou1535

nase?1536

full1554

intoxicate1554

tippled1564

intoxicated1576

pepst1577

overflown1579

whip-cat1582

pottical1586

cup-shota1593

fox-drunk1592

lion-drunk1592

nappy1592

sack-sopped1593

in drink1598

disguiseda1600

drink-drowned1600

daggeda1605

pot-shotten1604

tap-shackled1604

high1607

bumpsy1611

foxed1611

in one's cups1611

liquored1611

love-pot1611

pot-sick1611

whift1611

owl-eyed1613

fapa1616

hota1616

inebriated1615

reeling ripea1616

in one's (or the) pots1618

scratched1622

high-flown?1624

pot-shot1627

temulentive1628

ebrious1629

temulent1629

jug-bitten1630

pot-shaken1630

toxed1635

bene-bowsiea1637

swilled1637

paid1638

soaken1651

temulentious1652

flagonal1653

fuddled1656

cut1673

nazzy1673

concerned1678

whittled1694

suckey1699

well-oiled1701

tippeda1708

tow-row1709

wet1709

swash1711

strut1718

cocked1737

cockeyed1737

jagged1737

moon-eyed1737

rocky1737

soaked1737

soft1737

stewed1737

stiff1737

muckibus1756

groggy1770

muzzeda1788

muzzya1795

slewed1801

lumpy1810

lushy1811

pissed1812

blue1813

lush1819

malty1819

sprung1821

three sheets in the wind1821

obfuscated1822

moppy1823

ripe1823

mixed1825

queer1826

rosined1828

shot in the neck1830

tight1830

rummy1834

inebrious1837

mizzled1840

obflisticated1840

grogged1842

pickled1842

swizzled1843

hit under the wing1844

obfusticatedc1844

ebriate1847

pixilated1848

boozed1850

ploughed1853

squiffy?1855

buffy1858

elephant trunk1859

scammered1859

gassed1863

fly-blown1864

rotten1864

shot1864

ebriose1871

shicker1872

parlatic1877

miraculous1879

under the influence1879

ginned1881

shickered1883

boiled1886

mosy1887

to be loaded for bear(s)1888

squiffeda1890

loaded1890

oversparred1890

sozzled1892

tanked1893

orey-eyed1895

up the (also a) pole1897

woozy1897

toxic1899

polluted1900

lit-up1902

on (also upon) one's ear1903

pie-eyed1903

pifflicated1905

piped1906

spiflicated1906

jingled1908

skimished1908

tin hat1909

canned1910

pipped1911

lit1912

peloothered1914

molo1916

shick1916

zigzag1916

blotto1917

oiled-up1918

stung1919

stunned1919

bottled1922

potted1922

rotto1922

puggled1923

puggle1925

fried1926

crocked1927

fluthered1927

lubricated1927

whiffled1927

liquefied1928

steamed1929

mirackc1930

overshot1931

swacked1932

looped1934

stocious1937

whistled1938

sauced1939

mashed1942

plonked1943

stone1945

juiced1946

buzzed1952

jazzed1955

schnockered1955

honkers1957

skunked1958

bombed1959

zonked1959

bevvied1960

mokus1960

snockered1961

plotzed1962

over the limit1966

the worse for wear1966

wasted1968

wired1970

zoned1971

blasted1972

Brahms and Liszt?1972

funked up1976

trousered1977

motherless1980

tired and emotional1981

ratted1982

rat-arsed1984

wazzed1990

mullered1993

twatted1993

bollocksed1994

lashed1996

1980 D. McCormick Approaching 1984 Gloss. 179/1 Motherless, drunk.

1988 Frontline May 11 Petrus and the boss get motherless at the next employee braaivleis,..and swear eternal devotion.

1993 C. M. Knox tr. E. van Heerden Casspirs & Camparis 6 Erwin was absolutely motherless. ‘We're starting a new life,’ he told me. She..just helped him to undress.

2001 C. Hope Heaven Forbid xix. 173 Old Crossly-White's in the bar..most nights. Completely motherless.

B. n.

With plural agreement. With the. Motherless people or motherless children as a class; (also, occasionally) a member of this class.In Middle English usually with reference to the Epistle of James, and occasionally without the; see quot. c1384, and cf. quot. a1425 at sense A. 1. English Bibles from Coverdale onwards have only ‘the fatherless’. (Tyndale has ‘the frendlesse’: see quot. 1526 at friendless n..)

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [noun] > condition of having no mother

motherlessc1384

motherlessness1869

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) James i. 27 To visite pupilles [L. pupillos], that is, fadirles or modirles.

1402 Reply Friar Daw Topias in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 66 In the epistle of James, cleen religioun it is..to visite..the fadirles and the modirles.

c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 62 (MED) Helpiþ in ȝor dome to þe faderles and moderles, and defendiþ þe widow.

1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes ii. Ep. Ded. To become a mother to the motherlesse.

1739 G. Ogle Gualtherus & Griselda vi. 78 The Friendless, that, in Thee, still found a Friend! The Motherless, that met a Mother's Care!

1835 L. H. H. Sigourney Zinzendorff 259 (title of poem) The death of the motherless.

1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch IV. lxxi. 160 I thank the Lord he took my children to Himself, if that's all the law can do for the motherless.

1927 R. Jeffers Women at Point Sur x. 64 There is..No love but toward..the motherless, The unlaughing, the lonely.

1966 L. MacNeice Coll. Poems (1979) (title of poem) Eclogue between the motherless.

C. adv. Australian and South African slang.

Very, completely. Usually as an intensifier modifying adjectives expressing penury or intoxication, esp. in stone (and other variants) motherless broke, motherless drunk. Cf. senses A. 2, A. 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly

allOE

outlyOE

thwert-outc1175

skerea1225

thoroughc1225

downrightc1275

purec1300

purelyc1300

faira1325

finelyc1330

quitec1330

quitelyc1330

utterlyc1374

outerlya1382

plainlya1382

straighta1387

allutterly1389

starkc1390

oultrelya1393

plata1393

barec1400

outrightc1400

incomparablyc1422

absolutely?a1425

simpliciter?a1425

staringa1425

quitementa1450

properlyc1450

directly1455

merec1475

incomparable1482

preciselyc1503

clean?1515

cleara1522

plain1535

merely1546

stark1553

perfectly1555

right-down1566

simply1574

flat1577

flatly1577

skire1581

plumb1588

dead?1589

rankly1590

stark1593

sheera1600

start1599

handsmooth1600

peremptory1601

sheerly1601

rank1602

utter1619

point-blank1624

proofa1625

peremptorily1626

downrightly1632

right-down1646

solid1651

clever1664

just1668

hollow1671

entirely1673

blank1677

even down1677

cleverly1696

uncomparatively1702

subtly1733

point1762

cussed1779

regularly1789

unqualifiedly1789

irredeemably1790

positively1800

cussedly1802

heart1812

proper1816

slick1818

blankly1822

bang1828

smack1828

pluperfectly1831

unmitigatedly1832

bodaciously1833

unredeemedly1835

out of sight1839

bodacious1845

regular1846

thoroughly1846

ingrainedly1869

muckinga1880

fucking1893

motherless1898

self1907

stone1928

sideways1956

terminally1974

1898 Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Dec. Red Page To these are prefixed the adjectives motherless and dead, thus dead motherless broke.

1925 E. S. Sorenson Murty Brown 135 That leaves me stony, motherless broke again.

1934 F. H. Brown Songs of Plains 44 And motherless stoney was I at the time.

1945 G. Casey Downhill is Easier i. 20 I'd only known Reg when we were both stone motherless broke.

1973 Eng. Usage in Southern Afr. 4 2. 28 Motherless drunk,..completely intoxicated.

1975 D. Stuart Walk, trot, canter & Die xvi. 97 Bone motherless broke, hadn't had so much as a pennyweight [of gold] for months, an' right out of tucker.

1977 P. H. Capstick Death in Long Grass ii. 80 It was possible to get stinking, motherless drunk at such affairs.

2009 B. Courtenay Story of Danny Dunn xi. 425 At the wake,..her sisters, brothers-in-law and several nieces and nephews got motherless drunk.

Derivatives

ˈmotherlessness n. the lack of a mother.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [noun] > condition of having no mother

motherlessc1384

motherlessness1869

1869 Harper's Mag. July 271/1 She pitied his motherlessness, and was then..doling out to him sweet morsels of comfort.

1889 A. Sergeant Esther Denison v. xxxvii An indefinitely lonely and neglected look hung about the two—the look of motherlessness.

1974 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 80 272 It deals only with..the consequences of motherlessness for the family.

1988 P. Fitzgerald Beginning of Spring xi. 84 The three children..should be showing, so much more than they did, the effect of motherlessness.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	motherless
释义	motherlessadj.¹n.adv. Brit. /ˈmʌðələs/, U.S. /ˈməðərləs/, Australian English /ˈmʌðələs/, South African English /ˈmʌðələs/ Forms: see mother n.¹ and -less suffix. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: mother n.¹, -less suffix. Etymology: < mother n.¹ + -less suffix. Compare Middle Dutch moederloos (Dutch moederloos), Middle Low German mōderlōs, early modern German mutterlos (German mutterlos), Old Icelandic móðurlauss.In early use often after post-classical Latin pupillus orphan (Vulgate: see pupil n.¹): see note at sense B. In sense A. 2 originally short for motherless broke (compare sense C.). In South African usage (see sense A. 3 and motherless drunk at sense C. (compare quot. 1973 at sense C.)) probably after Afrikaans moederloos dronk (probably an alteration of moedeloos dronk hopelessly drunk). A. adj.¹ 1. Lacking a mother; left without a mother. In early use also: †orphaned (obsolete). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [adjective] > having (specific) parents > having a mother > motherless motherlessOE unmothered1821 OE Homily: Sermonem Angelorum Nomina (Corpus Cambr. 419) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 228 Fylstan widewum and fæderleasum and moderleasum cildum. c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 78 Ðis meiden was baðe federles & moderles. ?a1300 St. Eustace (Digby) 131 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 214 Hou shal ich ou—moderlese—feden? c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 200 (MED) Cursed be he..þat paruerteþ þe dom of a straunge man, of þe modurles child, of þe widewe. a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) James i. 27 To visite fadirles and modirles children [L. pupillos]. 1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 40 Many poure children that wer fadir and modir lees. a1500 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 15th Cent. (1939) 10 (MED) Nowe without broþer and spowse y moste hens pas; fadurles & modurles y am lafte here. 1548 T. Cranmer Catechismus sig. Niv^v Oppressers of fatherles and motherles children. 1588 J. Aske Elizabetha Triumphans 10 Destroy both Cocke and Hennes, Leave ne're a Chicke but shalbe motherles. 1638 J. Kirke Seven Champions i. sig. C3 I beseech you take pitty on me a Motherlesse child. 1684 E. Ravenscroft Dame Dobson ii. ix. 23 My Dame took me in Fatherless and Motherless. 1712 J. Arbuthnot John Bull in his Senses iv. 19 The three poor Motherless Children. 1778 F. Burney Evelina II. xix. 165 Though motherless, though worse than fatherless, bereft from infancy of the two first and greatest blessings of life, never has she had cause to deplore their loss. 1829 R. Southey All for Love iii. 25 An only child and motherless. 1871 C. Rossetti Sing Song 125 Motherless baby and babyless mother. 1901 G. S. Layard Mrs. Lynn Linton i. 3 Eliza's was practically a motherless childhood. 1971 New Society 4 Nov. 866/2 Motherless families which still had the father's wage. 1987 M. Drabble Radiant Way 17 Charles had married Liz in order to provide the three motherless babes with a proper family life. 2. Australian slang. Very poor, having no money. Also as an intensifier: total, utter. Cf. sense C. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > poverty > [adjective] > poor > lacking money to the boneOE silverlessc1325 pennilessc1330 moneylessc1400 impecunious1596 crossless1600 penceless1605 unmoneyed1606 coinless1614 emptya1643 out of pocket1679 money-bound1710 broke1716 embarrassed1744 stiver cramped1785 plackless1786 taper1789 poundlessa1794 shillingless1797 unpennied1804 fundless1809 impecuniary1814 hard up1821 soldier-thighed1825 cashless1833 stiverless1839 fly-blown1853 strapped1857 stick1859 tight1859 stone-broke1886 stony1886 oofless1888 stony-broke1890 motherless1906 penny-pinched1918 skinned1924 skint1925 on the beach1935 potless1936 boracic1959 uptight1967 brassic1982 1906 E. Dyson In Roaring Fifties xiv. 200 ‘Not a white man round but the motherless drunk there’, said Mike. One of the cattle-dogs had returned to the side of the sleeper. 1916 A. Wright Under Cloud 35 I'm stone motherless meself an' I could do with that hundred Booth is offerin'. 1958 Bulletin (Sydney) 11 June 19/2 The worrying starts when he is flat, skinned, motherless, stony hearts-of-oak, or has ‘gone bad’. 1976 T. A. G. Hungerford in B. Bennett New Country 34 He let half-a-dozen others out at the same time. The motherless hooer. 3. South African slang. Drunk; intoxicated. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk fordrunkenc897 drunkena1050 cup-shottenc1330 drunka1400 inebriate1497 overseenc1500 liquor1509 fou1535 nase?1536 full1554 intoxicate1554 tippled1564 intoxicated1576 pepst1577 overflown1579 whip-cat1582 pottical1586 cup-shota1593 fox-drunk1592 lion-drunk1592 nappy1592 sack-sopped1593 in drink1598 disguiseda1600 drink-drowned1600 daggeda1605 pot-shotten1604 tap-shackled1604 high1607 bumpsy1611 foxed1611 in one's cups1611 liquored1611 love-pot1611 pot-sick1611 whift1611 owl-eyed1613 fapa1616 hota1616 inebriated1615 reeling ripea1616 in one's (or the) pots1618 scratched1622 high-flown?1624 pot-shot1627 temulentive1628 ebrious1629 temulent1629 jug-bitten1630 pot-shaken1630 toxed1635 bene-bowsiea1637 swilled1637 paid1638 soaken1651 temulentious1652 flagonal1653 fuddled1656 cut1673 nazzy1673 concerned1678 whittled1694 suckey1699 well-oiled1701 tippeda1708 tow-row1709 wet1709 swash1711 strut1718 cocked1737 cockeyed1737 jagged1737 moon-eyed1737 rocky1737 soaked1737 soft1737 stewed1737 stiff1737 muckibus1756 groggy1770 muzzeda1788 muzzya1795 slewed1801 lumpy1810 lushy1811 pissed1812 blue1813 lush1819 malty1819 sprung1821 three sheets in the wind1821 obfuscated1822 moppy1823 ripe1823 mixed1825 queer1826 rosined1828 shot in the neck1830 tight1830 rummy1834 inebrious1837 mizzled1840 obflisticated1840 grogged1842 pickled1842 swizzled1843 hit under the wing1844 obfusticatedc1844 ebriate1847 pixilated1848 boozed1850 ploughed1853 squiffy?1855 buffy1858 elephant trunk1859 scammered1859 gassed1863 fly-blown1864 rotten1864 shot1864 ebriose1871 shicker1872 parlatic1877 miraculous1879 under the influence1879 ginned1881 shickered1883 boiled1886 mosy1887 to be loaded for bear(s)1888 squiffeda1890 loaded1890 oversparred1890 sozzled1892 tanked1893 orey-eyed1895 up the (also a) pole1897 woozy1897 toxic1899 polluted1900 lit-up1902 on (also upon) one's ear1903 pie-eyed1903 pifflicated1905 piped1906 spiflicated1906 jingled1908 skimished1908 tin hat1909 canned1910 pipped1911 lit1912 peloothered1914 molo1916 shick1916 zigzag1916 blotto1917 oiled-up1918 stung1919 stunned1919 bottled1922 potted1922 rotto1922 puggled1923 puggle1925 fried1926 crocked1927 fluthered1927 lubricated1927 whiffled1927 liquefied1928 steamed1929 mirackc1930 overshot1931 swacked1932 looped1934 stocious1937 whistled1938 sauced1939 mashed1942 plonked1943 stone1945 juiced1946 buzzed1952 jazzed1955 schnockered1955 honkers1957 skunked1958 bombed1959 zonked1959 bevvied1960 mokus1960 snockered1961 plotzed1962 over the limit1966 the worse for wear1966 wasted1968 wired1970 zoned1971 blasted1972 Brahms and Liszt?1972 funked up1976 trousered1977 motherless1980 tired and emotional1981 ratted1982 rat-arsed1984 wazzed1990 mullered1993 twatted1993 bollocksed1994 lashed1996 1980 D. McCormick Approaching 1984 Gloss. 179/1 Motherless, drunk. 1988 Frontline May 11 Petrus and the boss get motherless at the next employee braaivleis,..and swear eternal devotion. 1993 C. M. Knox tr. E. van Heerden Casspirs & Camparis 6 Erwin was absolutely motherless. ‘We're starting a new life,’ he told me. She..just helped him to undress. 2001 C. Hope Heaven Forbid xix. 173 Old Crossly-White's in the bar..most nights. Completely motherless. B. n. With plural agreement. With the. Motherless people or motherless children as a class; (also, occasionally) a member of this class.In Middle English usually with reference to the Epistle of James, and occasionally without the; see quot. c1384, and cf. quot. a1425 at sense A. 1. English Bibles from Coverdale onwards have only ‘the fatherless’. (Tyndale has ‘the frendlesse’: see quot. 1526 at friendless n..) ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [noun] > condition of having no mother motherlessc1384 motherlessness1869 c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) James i. 27 To visite pupilles [L. pupillos], that is, fadirles or modirles. 1402 Reply Friar Daw Topias in T. Wright Polit. Poems & Songs (1861) II. 66 In the epistle of James, cleen religioun it is..to visite..the fadirles and the modirles. c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 62 (MED) Helpiþ in ȝor dome to þe faderles and moderles, and defendiþ þe widow. 1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes ii. Ep. Ded. To become a mother to the motherlesse. 1739 G. Ogle Gualtherus & Griselda vi. 78 The Friendless, that, in Thee, still found a Friend! The Motherless, that met a Mother's Care! 1835 L. H. H. Sigourney Zinzendorff 259 (title of poem) The death of the motherless. 1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch IV. lxxi. 160 I thank the Lord he took my children to Himself, if that's all the law can do for the motherless. 1927 R. Jeffers Women at Point Sur x. 64 There is..No love but toward..the motherless, The unlaughing, the lonely. 1966 L. MacNeice Coll. Poems (1979) (title of poem) Eclogue between the motherless. C. adv. Australian and South African slang. Very, completely. Usually as an intensifier modifying adjectives expressing penury or intoxication, esp. in stone (and other variants) motherless broke, motherless drunk. Cf. senses A. 2, A. 3. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > utterly allOE allOE outlyOE thwert-outc1175 skerea1225 thoroughc1225 downrightc1275 purec1300 purelyc1300 faira1325 finelyc1330 quitec1330 quitelyc1330 utterlyc1374 outerlya1382 plainlya1382 straighta1387 allutterly1389 starkc1390 oultrelya1393 plata1393 barec1400 outrightc1400 incomparablyc1422 absolutely?a1425 simpliciter?a1425 staringa1425 quitementa1450 properlyc1450 directly1455 merec1475 incomparable1482 preciselyc1503 clean?1515 cleara1522 plain1535 merely1546 stark1553 perfectly1555 right-down1566 simply1574 flat1577 flatly1577 skire1581 plumb1588 dead?1589 rankly1590 stark1593 sheera1600 start1599 handsmooth1600 peremptory1601 sheerly1601 rank1602 utter1619 point-blank1624 proofa1625 peremptorily1626 downrightly1632 right-down1646 solid1651 clever1664 just1668 hollow1671 entirely1673 blank1677 even down1677 cleverly1696 uncomparatively1702 subtly1733 point1762 cussed1779 regularly1789 unqualifiedly1789 irredeemably1790 positively1800 cussedly1802 heart1812 proper1816 slick1818 blankly1822 bang1828 smack1828 pluperfectly1831 unmitigatedly1832 bodaciously1833 unredeemedly1835 out of sight1839 bodacious1845 regular1846 thoroughly1846 ingrainedly1869 muckinga1880 fucking1893 motherless1898 self1907 stone1928 sideways1956 terminally1974 1898 Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Dec. Red Page To these are prefixed the adjectives motherless and dead, thus dead motherless broke. 1925 E. S. Sorenson Murty Brown 135 That leaves me stony, motherless broke again. 1934 F. H. Brown Songs of Plains 44 And motherless stoney was I at the time. 1945 G. Casey Downhill is Easier i. 20 I'd only known Reg when we were both stone motherless broke. 1973 Eng. Usage in Southern Afr. 4 2. 28 Motherless drunk,..completely intoxicated. 1975 D. Stuart Walk, trot, canter & Die xvi. 97 Bone motherless broke, hadn't had so much as a pennyweight [of gold] for months, an' right out of tucker. 1977 P. H. Capstick Death in Long Grass ii. 80 It was possible to get stinking, motherless drunk at such affairs. 2009 B. Courtenay Story of Danny Dunn xi. 425 At the wake,..her sisters, brothers-in-law and several nieces and nephews got motherless drunk. Derivatives ˈmotherlessness n. the lack of a mother. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [noun] > condition of having no mother motherlessc1384 motherlessness1869 1869 Harper's Mag. July 271/1 She pitied his motherlessness, and was then..doling out to him sweet morsels of comfort. 1889 A. Sergeant Esther Denison v. xxxvii An indefinitely lonely and neglected look hung about the two—the look of motherlessness. 1974 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 80 272 It deals only with..the consequences of motherlessness for the family. 1988 P. Fitzgerald Beginning of Spring xi. 84 The three children..should be showing, so much more than they did, the effect of motherlessness. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † motherlessadj.² Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: mother n.², -less suffix. Etymology: < mother n.² + -less suffix. Obsolete. rare. Of a liquid: free from scum or sediment. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > [adjective] > free from specific kinds of dirt unbepissedc1540 unbloody1594 ungored1606 motherless1607 unbloodieda1616 dustlessa1618 unpuddleda1618 unlimed1621 unmudded1625 smokeless1631 unpitched1634 undusted1648 cobweblessa1661 slimeless1672 unsmokified1693 unmiry1716 unmildewed1775 unblooded1785 unstercorated1821 moteless1869 scumless1881 smearless1885 sootless1890 unsmoked1890 1607 T. Tomkis Lingua iv. iii Steeped seven days in change of motherless rose-water. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2018). < adj.¹n.adv.OEadj.²1607
随便看	unbegot unbegotten unbegottenly unbegottenness unbegrave unbeguile unbeguiled unbeguileful unbeguilefulness unbeguiles unbeguiling unbegun unbeheaded unbeheld unbeheve unbehofth unbeholdable unbeholden unbeholdenness unbeholding unbehoof unbehovable unbehoveful unbehovely unbehoving

motherlessadj.1n.adv.

Derivatives

† motherlessadj.2

motherlessadj.¹n.adv.

† motherlessadj.²