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Pronunciation varies by accent · noun
(obsolete) The practice of visiting one's literal or figurative mother or mother church (compare Mothering Sunday); also called mothering..
Mothering-.—In former days, when the Roman Catholic was the established religion, it was the custom for people to visit their Mother Church on MidLent Sunday, and to make their offerings at the high altar. ...the now remaining practice of Mothering, or going to visit parents upon Mid-Lent Sunday, is really owing to that good old custom.
"Mothering Sunday," the fourth Sunday in Lent, when absent sons and daughters — particularly the young apprentices — would return to their homes with some little present for both parents, but more especially for the mother. ...Imagine the ... pride of the mother in the simple gift, and the admiration of the small brothers and sisters who gathered around and longed for the time when they also would be out in the great unknown world and could come "a-mothering."
Use a-mothering when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
A-mothering means (obsolete) The practice of visiting one's literal or figurative mother or mother church (compare Mothering Sunday); also called mothering..
The closest synonym depends on the sentence and intended sense.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
Mothering-.—In former days, when the Roman Catholic was the established religion, it was the custom for people to visit their Mother Church on MidLent Sunday, and to make their offerings at the high altar. ...the now remaining practice of Mothering, or going to visit parents upon Mid-Lent Sunday, is really owing to that good old custom.
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