godmother

---

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈɡɒdmʌðə/

Noun

godmother (plural godmothers)

1. A woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner; a female godparent who sponsors the baptism of a child.

Synonyms

• co-mother
• cummer

Related terms

• godfather

Translations

• French: marraine
• German: Patin, Patentante, Taufpatin, Gotte (Swiss, Alemannic), Firmgodl (Austrian), Firmpatin, Godel (South German), Godl (Austrian, Bavarian), Gote (regional), Taufgodl (Austrian), Gevatterin
• Italian: comare godmother of one's child, madrina one's own godmother
• Portuguese: madrinha reflects the relationship to the baptized child; comadre reflects the relationship to the parents of the baptized child, not to the child
• Russian: крёстная мать
• Spanish: madrina, comadre

Verb

godmother (godmothers, present participle godmothering; past and past participle godmothered)

1. (transitive) To act as godmother to.
   • 1909, H. G. Wells, Tono-Bungay

     The servants took to her – as they say – she godmothered three Susans during her rule, the coachman's, the gardener's and the Up Hill gamekeeper's.

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.008