Etymology

mother lode

Today it means: A large or rich vein of gold or of another precious mineral from which other branches extend. Full definition →

Spanish veta madre
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The story

  1. Spanish · calque ofveta madre“mother lode”
  2. English todaymother lode

Probably a calque of Spanish veta madre (“mother lode”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.