Compound words with MOTHER

MOTHER is a hinge word: 3 words make a compound in front of it and 3 make one after it, so it can sit in the middle of a chain and hold two compounds together at once.

Words that go in front of MOTHER

Each of these makes a compound ending in MOTHER.

• godmother — god + mother
• grandmother — grand + mother
• stepmother — step + mother

Words that follow MOTHER

Each of these makes a compound starting with MOTHER.

• motherhood — mother + hood
• motherland — mother + land
• motherless — mother + less

Why MOTHER joins on both sides

MOTHER mirrors FATHER almost perfectly: GODMOTHER, GRANDMOTHER and STEPMOTHER coming in, MOTHERHOOD, MOTHERLAND and MOTHERLESS going out. Kinship words are one of the tidiest symmetries in English compounding.

Bridges you can build through MOTHER

Put any word from the first list in front and any word from the second behind, and you have a three-word chain in which both neighbouring pairs join. Here are some of them.

• GOD → MOTHER → HOOD — godmother and motherhood
• GRAND → MOTHER → LAND — grandmother and motherland
• STEP → MOTHER → LESS — stepmother and motherless

Play a bridge

KEYSTONE is a free daily puzzle built entirely out of chains like these. You get the two ends and have to fill the two words in the middle. Three bridges a day, no account, no cookies.

Play today's KEYSTONE

Other hinge words

Each of these has a page like this one. There is also an index of all 54.

AWAY · BACK · BALL · BED · BLACK · BOARD · BOOK · BOY · BREAK · CHECK · DAY · DOOR · DOWN · FALL · FATHER · FIRE · GROUND · GUN · HAND · HEAD · HOOD · HOUSE · LAND · LESS · LIFE · LIGHT · LINE · LOAD · MAN · NIGHT · OFF · OUT · OVER · PAY · POINT · POST · POWER · ROOM · RUN · SHIP · SIDE · SOME · STEP · SUN · TAKE · TIME · TURN · UNDER · WALK · WATER · WAY · WOOD · WORK