different between parentless vs motherless

English

Etymology

parent +? -less

Adjective

parentless (not comparable)

1. Having no (living) parent.
   • 2004, Michael Kay, XSLT 2.0 Programmer's Reference

     Two consequences of parentless elements complicate the rules.

2. (computing) Having no parent in a data structure.
   • 2012, Michael Lawrence, John Verzani, Programming Graphical User Interfaces in R (page 19)

     The top-level window is parentless and forms the root of the hierarchy.

Coordinate terms

• fatherless
• motherless

Derived terms

• parentlessness

Translations

See also

• half orphan
• orphan

English

Etymology

From Middle English moderles, from Old English m?dorl?as, from Proto-Germanic *m?d?rlausaz, equivalent to mother +? -less. Cognate with Saterland Frisian muurloos (“motherless”), Dutch moederloos (“motherless”), German mutterlos (“motherless”), Danish moderløs (“motherless”), Swedish moderlös (“motherless”), Icelandic móðurlaus (“motherless”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

motherless (not comparable)

1. Without a (living) mother.
2. Without mother (mucilaginous substance in fermenting liquid).
   • 1997, Good Housekeeping, volume 225, page 132:

     Once the bottle is opened, the starter may develop again if the vinegar is in your cupboard for awhile. If its appearance bothers you, strain the vinegar through several layers of cheesecloth into a sterilized bottle. Motherless or not, vinegar has [...]
3. (figuratively) Without a history or predecessor.

Hypernyms

• parentless

Coordinate terms

• fatherless

Derived terms

• motherlessness

Translations

Adverb

motherless (comparative more motherless, superlative most motherless)

1. (South Africa, Australia, slang) very, completely (especially in reference to drunkenness)
   • 2009, Bryce Courtenay, The Story Of Danny Dunn:

     At the wake, held at her old pub, Brenda watched as her sisters, brothers-in-law and several nieces and nephews got motherless drunk, then summoned a taxi to take them all home in two separate trips.

See also

• half orphan
• orphan