Meanings
verbgodmother (third-person singular simple present godmothers, present participle godmothering, simple past and past participle godmothered)
present singular third person godmothers · participle present godmothering · participle past godmothered · past godmothered
- transitiveTo act as godmother to.
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.
1909, H. G. Wells, Tono-Bungay
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishgodmōdor“godmother”
- Middle Englishgodmoder
- Englishgodmother
From Middle English godmoder, from Old English godmōdor (“godmother”), equivalent to god- + mother. Cognate with Old High German gotmuoter (“godmother”), Old Norse guðmóðir (“godmother”), Icelandic guðmóður (“godmother”), Swedish gudmoder (“godmother”), Danish gudmor (“godmother”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic عَرَّابَة, إِشْبِينَة
- عَرَّابَة (ʕarrāba)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- إِشْبِينَة (ʔišbīna)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Basque amabitxi
- amabitxiwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Bulgarian кръ́стница
- кръ́стница (krắstnica)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Catalan padrina
- padrinawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Chinese Mandarin 乾娘 /干娘, 教母
- 乾娘 /干娘 (gānniáng)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- 教母 (jiàomǔ)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Czech kmotra
- kmotrawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Danish gudmor, gudmoder
- gudmorwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- gudmoderwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Dutch meter
- meterwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Esperanto baptopatrino
- baptopatrinowoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Finnish kummitäti
- kummitätiwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
French marraine
- marrainewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
German Patin, Patentante
- Patinwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Patentantewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Taufpatinwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Gottewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Firmgodlwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Firmpatinwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Godelwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Godlwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Gotewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Taufgodlwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- Gevatterinwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Greek νονά
- νονά (noná)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Hungarian keresztanya
- keresztanyawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Indonesian ibu baptis, ibu permandian
- ibu baptiswoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- ibu permandianwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Irish máthair bhaistí
- máthair bhaistíwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Italian comare, madrina
- comarewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- madrinawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Japanese 教母, 代母
- 教母 (kyōbo)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- 代母 (daibo)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Korean 대모
- 대모 (daemo)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Latin matrina
- matrinawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Latvian krustmāte
- krustmātewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Norwegian Bokmål gudmor
- gudmorwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Polish matka chrzestna, chrzestna
- matka chrzestnawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- chrzestnawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Portuguese madrinha, comadre
- madrinhawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- comadrewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Romanian nașă, nună
- nașăwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- nunăwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Russian крёстная мать, крёстная
- крёстная мать (krjóstnaja matʹ)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- крёстная (krjóstnaja)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Scottish Gaelic muime, màthair-bhaiste
- muimewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- màthair-bhaistewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- bana-ghoistidhwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Slovak krstná mama, kmotra
- krstná mamawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- kmotrawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Spanish madrina, comadre
- madrinawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- comadrewoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Swedish gudmor, gudmoder
- gudmorwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- gudmoderwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Tagalog inaama, ninang
- inaamawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- ninangwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- madrinawoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Thai แม่ทูนหัว, แม่อุปถัมภ์
- แม่ทูนหัว (mɛ̂ɛ-tuun-hǔua)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- แม่อุปถัมภ์ (mɛ̂ɛ-ù-bpà-tǎm)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Ukrainian хреще́на ма́ти, хреще́на
- хреще́на ма́ти (xreščéna máty)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- хреще́на (xreščéna)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- хре́сна ма́ти (xrésna máty)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
- хре́сна (xrésna)woman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Vietnamese mẹ đỡ đầu
- mẹ đỡ đầuwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Welsh mam fedydd
- mam fedyddwoman present at the christening of a baby who promises to help raise the child in a Christian manner
Cite this entry
APA
godmother. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/godmother
MLA
“godmother.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/godmother. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “godmother,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/godmother.
Source: godmother on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.