mother country

noun

1. the country of one's birth or ancestry.
2. the country of origin of settlers or colonists in a place.

mother country

noun

1. the original country of colonists or settlers
2. another term for fatherland

Word History and Origins

Origin of mother country¹

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

Once the mother country itself became “haughty and proud,” bent on “enslaving us all,” Americans knew all too well what they needed to do.

From Washington Post

True, the colonies lacked the extremes of wealth and poverty to be seen in the mother country.

From The Daily Beast

All but one of the shortlisted six (Coetzee being the exception) hailed from the mother country.

From The Daily Beast

In that case the mother country would be only too glad to withdraw her troops, of which indeed she had none too many.

From Project Gutenberg

“Back to the land” is a question there of as much if not greater moment than in the Mother Country.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus, the breach between the American colonies and the mother country became wider as time passed.

From Project Gutenberg

For it is to be observed that the whole question was between the mother country and the colony.

From Project Gutenberg

It was not only in the mother country that frightful acts of bigotry and lust for wealth were enacted.

From Project Gutenberg