mother country
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
One's native country; or the country whence one's ancestors have come to settle. England is the Mother country of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. The German term is Fatherland.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “mother country” mean?
One's native country; or the country whence one's ancestors have come to settle. England is the Mother country of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. The German term is Fatherland.
Is “mother country” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.