allomothering

A1L1L1O1M3O1T1H4E1R1I1N1G2

noun

The provision of infant care from someone other than the mother.

Scrabble 19
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Meanings

verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of allomother
nounallomothering (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe provision of infant care from someone other than the mother.
    1 more example

    They’re so big (read: hungry) and so slow to grow to independence, that allomothering – infant care from other than the mother – not only from a baby’s grandmother, maternal aunts and sisters, but also from the baby’s brothers, father and his kin, enabled us to continue and maybe even thrive under these conditions.

    2017 August 9, Holly Dunsworth, Anne Buchanan, “Sex makes babies”, in Aeon
Cite this entry
APA

allomothering. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/allomothering

MLA

“allomothering.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/allomothering. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “allomothering,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/allomothering.

Source: allomothering on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.