Online Etymology Dictionary

mother (v.): 1540s, "to be the mother of," from mother (n.1). Meaning "to take care of" is from 1863. Related: Mothered; mothering.
mother (n.1): Old English modor "female parent," from Proto-Germanic *mothær (source also of Old Saxon modar, Old Frisian moder, Old Norse moðir, Danish moder, Dutch moeder, Old High German muoter, German Mutter), from PIE *mater- "mother" (source also of Latin mater, Old Irish mathir, Lithuanian mote, Sanskrit matar-, Greek meter, Old Church Slavonic mati), "[b]ased ultimately on the baby-talk form *mā- (2); with the kinship term suffix *-ter-" [Watkins]. Spelling with -th- dates from early 16c., though that pronunciation is probably older (see father (n.)).

Mother nature first attested c. 1600; mother earth is from 1580s. Mother tongue "one's native language" first attested late 14c. Mother of all ________ 1991, is Gulf War slang, from Saddam Hussein's use in reference to the coming battle; it is an Arabic idiom (as well as an English one), for instance Ayesha, second wife of Muhammad, is known as Mother of Believers. Mother Carey's chickens is late 18c. sailors' nickname for storm petrels, or for snowflakes. Mother lode attested by c. 1882, from mining [1849].
mother (n.2): "a thick substance concreting in liquors; the lees or scum concreted" [Johnson], probably from Middle Dutch modder "filth, dregs," from PIE *meu- (see mud).
mother of pearl (n.): c. 1500, translating Medieval Latin mater perlarum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imagination with obsolete mother (n.2) "dregs." Compare Italian madreperla, French mère-perle, Dutch parelmoer, German Perlmutter, Danish perlemor.
Mother Hubbard: Old Mother Hubbard, nursery rhyme, was printed 1805, written by Sarah Catherine Martin (1768-1826) but based on earlier material of unknown origin (the name is attested from 1591).
Mother Goose: probably a translation of mid-17c. French contes de ma mère l'oye, which meant "fairy tales." The phrase appeared on the frontispiece of Charles Perrault's 1697 collection of eight fairy tales ("Contes du Temps Passé"), which was translated in English 1729 as "Mother Goose's Tales", and a very popular collection of traditional nursery rhymes published by John Newbery c. 1765 was called "Mother Goose's Melody." Her own biographical story is no earlier than 1806.
earth-mother (n.): 1870, folkloric spirit of the earth, conceived as sensual, maternal; often a translation of German erdmutter. Earth-goddess is from 1837.
mother-in-law (n.): mid-15c., "mother of one's spouse," from mother (n.1) + in-law. Also in early use, "stepmother." In British slang c. 1884, mother-in-law was "a mixture of ales old and bitter."
mothership (n.): also mother-ship, 1890, from mother (n.1) + ship (n.).
motherhood (n.): 1590s, from mother (n.1) + -hood.
motherly (adj.): Old English modorlic "pertaining to a mother;" see mother (n.1) + -ly (1). Meaning "befitting a mother" is from mid-13c. Related: Motherliness.
motherland (n.): 1711, from mother (n.1) + land (n.).
motherless (adj.): Old English moderleas; see mother (n.) + -less.
motherfucker (n.): also mother-fucker, mother fucker, usually simply an intensive of fucker (see fuck), attested from 1956; implied in clipped form mother (with the context made clear) by 1928; motherfucking is from 1933. Abbreviation m.f. (for motherfucking) is in a rendition of soldier talk in Pound's Pisan Cantos (1948).
stepmother (n.): also step-mother, Old English steopmodor; see step- + mother (n.1). Associated with parsimony and cruelty at least since Middle English.
Is Moder was ded, his fader nam an oþur wijf. ... seint Edward heo louede luyte, for stepmoder is selde guod. ["South English Legendary," c. 1300]
mater-: comb. form meaning "mother," from Latin mater (see mother (n.)).
matri-: word-forming element meaning "mother," from comb. form of Latin mater (genitive matris) "mother" (see mother (n.1)).
maternal (adj.): late 15c., from Old French maternel (14c.), from Vulgar Latin *maternalis, from Latin maternus "maternal, of a mother," from mater "mother" (see mother (n.1)).
matrimony (n.): c. 1300, from Old French matremoine "matrimony, marriage" and directly from Latin matrimonium "wedlock, marriage," from matrem (nominative mater) "mother" (see mother (n.1)) + -monium, suffix signifying "action, state, condition."
matron (n.): late 14c., "married woman" (usually one of rank), from Old French matrone "married woman; elderly lady; patroness; midwife," and directly from Latin matrona "married woman, wife, matron," from mater (genitive matris) "mother" (see mother (n.1)). Sense of "female manager of a school, hospital, etc." first recorded 1550s.
matrix (n.): late 14c., "uterus, womb," from Old French matrice "womb, uterus," from Latin matrix (genitive matricis) "pregnant animal," in Late Latin "womb," also "source, origin," from mater (genitive matris) "mother" (see mother (n.1)). Sense of "place or medium where something is developed" is first recorded 1550s; sense of "embedding or enclosing mass" first recorded 1640s. Logical sense of "array of possible combinations of truth-values" is attested from 1914. As a verb from 1951.
magna mater: fertility goddess, 1728, Latin, literally "great mother." See magnate + mother (n.1).
matricide (n.): 1590s, "action of killing one's mother," from French matricide, from Latin matricida "mother-killer," and matricidium "mother-killing," from comb. form of mater "mother" (see mother (n.1)) + -cida "killer," and -cidium "a killing," from caedere "to slay" (see -cide). Meaning "one who kills his mother" is 1630s. Related: Matricidal (adj.). Old English had moðorslaga "matricide, mother-slayer."
metronymic (adj.): "derived from the name of a mother or maternal ancestor," 1881, from Late Greek metronymikos "named for one's mother," from meter (genitive metros) "mother" (see mother (n.1)) + onyma "name" (see name (n.)). Related: Metronymically (1822).
Alma Mater (n.): late 14c., Latin, literally "bountiful mother," a title Romans gave to goddesses, especially Ceres and Cybele, from alma, fem. of almus "nourishing," from alere "to nourish" (see old) + mater "mother" (see mother (n.1)). First used 1710 in sense of "one's university or school" in reference to British universities.
matronymic (n.): 1794, a hybrid from Latin mater (see mother (n.1)) + Greek-based ending from patronymic. As an adjective from 1874.
Demeter: goddess of agriculture, mother of Persephone, from Greek Demeter; the second element generally given as mater (see mother); the first element possibly from da, Doric form of Greek ge "earth" (see Gaia), but Liddell & Scott find this "improbable." The Latin masc. proper name Demetrius means "son of Demeter."
endometrium (n.): "lining membrane of the uterus," 1882, medical Latin, from endo- + Greek metra "uterus," related to meter (see mother (n.1)). Related: Endometrial (1870).
godmother (n.): woman who sponsors one at baptism, late 13c., from God + mother (n.1); modifying or replacing Old English godmodor.
metropolitan (n.): early 15c., "bishop having oversight of other bishops," from Late Latin metropolitanus, from Greek metropolis "mother city" (from which others have been colonized), also "capital city," from meter "mother" (see mother (n.1)) + polis "city" (see polis).

In Greek, "parent state of a colony;" later, "see of a metropolitan bishop." In the West, the position now roughly corresponds to archbishop, but in the Greek church it ranks above it.
MILF (n.): by 1999, acronym of Mother I'd Like to Fuck or some such thing.
goodwife (n.): "a matron, mistress of a household," early 14c., from good (adj.) + wife (n.). As a term of civility applied to a married woman in humble life, it is a correlative of goodman. "Used like auntie, and mother, and gammer, in addressing or describing an inferior" [Farmer].
matter (n.): c. 1200, materie, "subject of thought, speech, or expression," from Anglo-French matere, Old French matere "subject, theme, topic; substance, content, material; character, education" (12c., Modern French matière), from Latin materia "substance from which something is made," also "hard inner wood of a tree" (source also of Portuguese madeira "wood"), from mater "origin, source, mother" (see mother (n.1)). Or, on another theory, it represents *dmateria, from PIE root *dem-/*dom- (source of Latin domus "house," English timber). With sense development in Latin influenced by Greek hyle (see hylo-), of which it was the equivalent in philosophy.

Meaning "physical substance generally, matter, material" is early 14c.; that of "substance of which some specific object is made or consists of" is attested from late 14c. That of "piece of business, affair, activity, situation, circumstance" is from late 14c. From mid-14c. as "subject of a literary work, content of what is written, main theme." Also in Middle English as "cause, reasons, ground; essential character; field of investigation."

Matter of course "something expected" attested from 1739. For that matter attested from 1670s. What is the matter "what concerns (someone), the cause of the difficulty" is attested from mid-15c. To make no matter "be no difference to" also is mid-15c.
father (n.): Old English fæder "he who begets a child, nearest male ancestor;" also "any lineal male ancestor; the Supreme Being," and by late Old English, "one who exercises parental care over another," from Proto-Germanic *fader (source also of Old Saxon fadar, Old Frisian feder, Dutch vader, Old Norse faðir, Old High German fatar, German vater; in Gothic usually expressed by atta), from PIE *pəter- "father" (source also of Sanskrit pitar-, Greek pater, Latin pater, Old Persian pita, Old Irish athir "father"), presumably from baby-speak sound "pa." The ending formerly was regarded as an agent-noun affix.
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

[Wordsworth, 1802]
The classic example of Grimm's Law, where PIE "p-" becomes Germanic "f-." Spelling with -th- (15c.) reflects widespread phonetic shift in Middle English that turned -der to -ther in many words, perhaps reinforced in this case by Old Norse forms; spelling caught up to pronunciation in 1500s (compare mother (n.), weather (n.)). As a title of various Church dignitaries from c. 1300; meaning "creator, inventor, author" is from mid-14c.; that of "anything that gives rise to something else" is from late 14c. As a respectful title for an older man, recorded from 1550s. Father-figure is from 1954. Fathers "leading men, elders" is from 1580s.
grandmother (n.): early 15c., from grand- + mother (n.1), probably on analogy of French grand-mère. Replaced earlier grandame (c. 1200) and Old English ealdemodor.
birthday suit (n.): first attested 1730s, but probably much older. The notion is the suit of clothes one was born in, i.e., no clothes at all. Compare Middle English mother naked "naked as the day one was born;" Middle Dutch moeder naect, German mutternackt.
matriculate (v.): 1570s, "to admit a student to a college by enrolling his name on the register," from Late Latin matriculatus, past participle of matriculare "to register," from Latin matricula "public register," diminutive of matrix (genitive matricis) "list, roll," also "sources, womb" (see matrix).

The connection of senses in the Latin word seems to be via confusion of Greek metra "womb" (from meter "mother;" see mother (n.1)) and an identical but different Greek word metra meaning "register, lot" (see meter (n.2)). Evidently Latin matrix was used to translate both, though it originally shared meaning with only one. Related: Matriculated; matriculating.
surrogate (n.): early 15c., from Latin surrogatus, past participle of surrogare/subrogare "put in another's place, substitute," from assimilated form of sub "in the place of, under" (see sub-) + rogare "to ask, propose" (see rogation). Meaning "woman pregnant with the fertilized egg of another woman" is attested from 1978 (from 1972 of animals; surrogate mother in a psychological sense is from 1971). As an adjective from 1630s.
gather (v.): Old English gadrian, gædrian "unite, agree, assemble; gather, collect, store up" (transitive and intransitive), used of flowers, thoughts, persons; from Proto-Germanic *gaduron "come or bring together, unite" (source also of Old English gæd "fellowship, companionship," gædeling "companion;" Middle Low German gadderen; Old Frisian gaderia; Dutch gaderen "to gather," gade "spouse;" German Gatte "husband;" Gothic gadiliggs), from PIE *ghedh- "to unite, join" (see good (adj.)). Change of spelling from -d- to -th- is 1500s, reflecting earlier change in pronunciation (as in mother, weather, father). Related: Gathered; gathering.
stage (n.): mid-13c., "story of a building;" early 14c., "raised platform used for public display" (also "the platform beneath the gallows"), from Old French estage "building, dwelling place; stage for performance; phase, stage, rest in a journey" (12c., Modern French étage "story of a house, stage, floor, loft"), from Vulgar Latin *staticum "a place for standing," from Latin statum, past participle of stare "to stand," from PIE root *stā- "to stand, set down, make or be firm" (see stet). Meaning "platform for presentation of a play" is attested from late 14c.; generalized for "profession of an actor" from 1580s.

Sense of "period of development or time in life" first recorded early 14c., probably from Middle English sense of "degree or step on the 'ladder' of virtue, 'wheel' of fortune, etc.," in parable illustrations and morality plays. Meaning "a step in sequence, a stage of a journey" is late 14c. Meaning "level of water in a river, etc." is from 1814, American English.

Stage-name is from 1727. Stage-mother (n.) in the overbearing mother-of-an-actress sense is from 1915. Stage-door is from 1761, hence Stage-Door Johnny "young man who frequents stage doors seeking the company of actresses, chorus girls, etc." (1907). Stage whisper, such as used by an actor on stage to be heard by the audience, first attested 1865. Stage-manage (v.) is from 1871.
Mothers' Day: the spelling used in the U.S. congressional resolution first recognizing it, May 9, 1908.
dam (n.2): "animal mother," c. 1300, variant of dame (q.v.), also originally used, like that word, for "lady, mother;" but meanings diverged into separate spellings by 16c.
uterine (adj.): 1610s, "pertaining to the womb" (from early 15c. as "having the same birth-mother"), from Old French uterin, from Late Latin uterinus "pertaining to the womb," also "born of the same mother," from Latin uterus "womb" (see uterus).
Maia: Roman goddess of fertility, Latin Maia, literally "she who brings increase," related to magnus "great" (see magnate). Maia, one of the Pleiades, is from Greek Maia, daughter of Atlas, mother of Hermes, literally "mother, good mother, dame; foster-mother, nurse, midwife," said by Watkins to be from infant babbling (see mamma).
mammary (adj.): 1680s, from French mammaire (18c.), from Latin mamma "breast," probably from the child's word for "mother" (see mamma).
Bathsheba: Biblical wife of King David, mother of Solomon, from Hebrew Bathshebha, literally "daughter of the oath," from bath "daughter."
matriarch (n.): "mother who heads a family or tribe," c. 1600, from matri- + -arch, abstracted from patriarch.
Anne: alternative form of the fem. proper name Anna (q.v.). In Christian tradition, the name of the mother of the Virgin Mary.
parental (adj.): 1620s, from Latin parentalis "of parents," from parens "father or mother" (see parent (n.)). Related: Parentally.
matroclinous (adj.): "resembling the mother rather than the father," 1911, from matri- + Greek klinein "to lean" (see lean (v.)).