plural allomothers
Definition of allomother
: an individual other than the biological mother of an offspring that performs the functions of a mother (as by caring for an infant temporarily)
The allomother suckled the second infant for two and one-half minutes before it was retrieved by its own mother.— Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, The Langurs of Abu: Female and Male Strategies of Reproduction, 1980 … by five months of age, babies spend more time with allomothers than with their own mother …— Claudia R. Valeggia, in Substitute Parents: Biological and Social Perspectives on Alloparenting, 2009
Keep scrolling for more
Test Your Vocabulary
February 2021 Words of the Day Quiz
-
- Which is a synonym of perdure?

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Spell words. Make bears.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Share allomother
Time Traveler for allomother
The first known use of allomother was in 1980
See more words from the same year