mother country
noun
1
: the country of one's parents or ancestors
also
: fatherland
2
: the country from which the people of a colony or former colony derive their origin
3
: a country that is the origin of something
Examples of mother country in a Sentence
Greece can boast to being the mother country of democracy.
even after decades of living in their adopted nation, they maintained a strong attachment to the mother country
Recent Examples on the Web
Not all Americans thought British infringements warranted a severing of ties with the mother country, and after the Continental Congress declared independence, the struggle against Britain became a civil war among Americans, pitting Patriots against Loyalists.
—
Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2021
Their sources of intelligence repeatedly assured British leaders that the great majority of the colonists remained loyal to the mother country.
—T.h. Breen, The New York Review of Books, 2 Feb. 2023
The skewers, simultaneously earthy and spicy, are served atop food-grade wax paper designed to mimic the newspaper on which suya is typically served in the mother country.
—Tim Carman, Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2023
Latin Americans have always had a tricky relationship with their mother country.
—Ed Morales, CNN, 13 Jan. 2023
That New Zealand was destined to match the mother country in population within two generations.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 29 July 2010
Decades after independence, these countries remain underdeveloped, lagging behind the former mother country on every metric.
—Kehinde Andrews, Scientific American, 28 Oct. 2022
Nothing, however, was quite right, and the couple were ready to give up on Miranda’s mother country, and contemplated, among other places, Maryland instead.
—Hamish Bowles, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2022
Output in the new United States in 1776 was perhaps a quarter of that in its mother country, Great Britain.
—Richard Vedder, WSJ, 19 Aug. 2022
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Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2021
Their sources of intelligence repeatedly assured British leaders that the great majority of the colonists remained loyal to the mother country.
—T.h. Breen, The New York Review of Books, 2 Feb. 2023
The skewers, simultaneously earthy and spicy, are served atop food-grade wax paper designed to mimic the newspaper on which suya is typically served in the mother country.
—Tim Carman, Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2023
Latin Americans have always had a tricky relationship with their mother country.
—Ed Morales, CNN, 13 Jan. 2023
That New Zealand was destined to match the mother country in population within two generations.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 29 July 2010
Decades after independence, these countries remain underdeveloped, lagging behind the former mother country on every metric.
—Kehinde Andrews, Scientific American, 28 Oct. 2022
Nothing, however, was quite right, and the couple were ready to give up on Miranda’s mother country, and contemplated, among other places, Maryland instead.
—Hamish Bowles, Vogue, 30 Aug. 2022
Output in the new United States in 1776 was perhaps a quarter of that in its mother country, Great Britain.
—Richard Vedder, WSJ, 19 Aug. 2022
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mother country.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near mother country
Cite this Entry
“Mother country.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mother%20country. Accessed 28 Sep. 2023.
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