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Glite Dictionary
motherlessness

motherlessness

1 6.8
A situation of having no mother or not getting care from her
  • noun
  • /ˈmʌðərləsnəs/
: orfandad materna
  • Many studies highlight the long-term effects of motherlessness on children's emotional development.

Examples

  • When for months there was no sign or sound of her, he sighed and relived that time when his house was full of motherlessness and the chief unmothering was Wild's.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The children in the orphanage experienced deep feelings of motherlessness due to the absence of maternal figures.

  • His poems often reflect themes of motherlessness and the longing for parental love.

Surface Forms

motherlessness singular
motherlessnesses plural

Morphology

motherlessness = motherless (transparent) = mother + less + ness

Formed by adding the noun-forming suffix '-ness' to the adjective 'motherless', preserving the compositional meaning 'the state of being without a mother'.

Etymology

Motherlessness is made from mother plus the parts -less ('without') and -ness ('a state or condition'). Like homeless ('without a home') and careless ('without care'), it means the 'state of being without a mother', which is why it describes a lack of motherly care.