Meanings
mither1
present singular third person mithers · participle present mithering · participle past mithered · past mithered
- Northern Englandintransitiveespecially ManchesterTo make an unnecessary fuss, moan, bother.
The European Commission is pondering how to compel phone companies to come up with a universal plug for their chargers. Apple, which uses its own design for its charger cables, is mithering about the change.
6 February 2020, “The parable of the plug”, in The Economist - Northern Englandtransitiveespecially ManchesterTo pester or irritate someone.
"Every night after work I'd mither [pester] my dad to take me out into the field and practise. There were definitely times when he didn't want to do it, but he never said no.
11 June 2019, “Women's World Cup: England v Argentina – Keira Walsh 'inspired' by opponents”, in BBC Sport
mither2
Origin
mither · verb
- Welshmoedro“to worry or bother”
- Englishmither
Late 17th century, of unknown origin; * Possibly related to Middle English bemothered (“confused, perplexed”), itself probably related to Old English mēþe (“exhausting, troublesome”), Old Norse móðr (“angry, frustrated”), Middle Dutch moeden (“to tire, exhaust, disturb, trouble”). * Possibly allied to Welsh moedro (“to worry or bother”), though according to the GPC, the latter is borrowed from English. * Alternatively, possibly tied to Welsh meidda (“to beg for whey”), from maidd (“whey”). * Perhaps from Welsh meiddio (“to dare or venture”), a variant of beiddio (“to dare”). The "dd" in Welsh corresponds in sound to the "th" in mither, and English also has moider and moither.
More words from Welsh
Full word history & related roots →mither · noun
- Old Englishmōdor“mother”
- Middle Englishmuther
- Englishmither
Variant from Middle English muther, muthir, from Old English mōdor (“mother”). More at mother.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch lastigvallen
- lastigvallentransitive to mither
Portuguese fazer queixume, importunar
- fazer queixumeintransitive: to mither
- importunartransitive to mither
Russian раздража́ть, докуча́ть
- раздража́ть (razdražátʹ)intransitive: to mither
- докуча́ть (dokučátʹ)transitive to mither
- донима́ть (donimátʹ)transitive to mither
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with mither
Anagrams
Cite this entry
mither. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mither
“mither.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mither. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mither,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mither.
Source: mither on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.