An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Mutter
Mutter, f., ‘mother,’ from MidHG. muoter, OHG. muotar, f.; comp. OSax. môdar, Du. moeder, AS. môddôr, môdor; E. mother (with th when followed by er, as in father, weather); OIc. môðer. The common Teut. word for ‘mother,’ wanting only in Goth., in which aiþei (comp. Eidam) was the current term, just as atta was used for ‘father’ instead of fadar. Teut. môdar, ‘mother,’ from pre-Teut. mâtêr, is, like many other terms denoting degrees of relationship, common also to the Aryan languages; comp. Ind. mâtṛ, Gr. μήτηρ, μάτηρ, Lat. mâter, OSlov. mati, OIr. máthir (Lith. môtė, ‘married woman’). It is allied to Muhme and its cognates, as well as to Gr. μαῖα, ‘good mother’ (as a kindly address). Whether these words are based on an Aryan root mâ, meaning ‘to mete out’ (Mutter, ‘apportioner, distributor’?), or in its OInd. sense, ‘to form’ (of the embryo in the womb), is uncertain. —