Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mother of all

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.21 in modern English

Syllables
moth-er of all
IPA
19
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

Used before a plural noun to form a compound noun having the sense of: the greatest or largest of (its kind); the most epic example of (its kind).

Colloquial

Example Sentences

Etymology

Calque of Arabic أُمّ (ʔumm, “mother (of)”). Popularized and given its current sense by Saddam Hussein's claim that the impending Gulf War would be the أُمّ المَعَارِك (ʔumm al-maʕārik, “mother of (all) battles”), though mother had long been used in somewhat similar senses in English, and other familial terms are used with the same meaning, like granddaddy (of all traffic jams) and father (of all battles).

Usage

Phrases

Mother of all Bombs Mother of all Budgets

Frequently Paired Words

mother

Synonyms

father granddaddy grandmammy Big One

Questions

What does mother of all mean?
Used before a plural noun to form a compound noun having the sense of: the greatest or largest of (its kind); the most epic example of (its kind).
Where does mother of all come from?
Calque of Arabic أُمّ (ʔumm, “mother (of)”). Popularized and given its current sense by Saddam Hussein's claim that the impending Gulf War would be the أُمّ المَعَارِك (ʔumm al-maʕārik, “mother of (all) battles”), though mother had long been used in somewhat similar senses in English, and other familial terms are used with the same meaning, like granddaddy (of all traffic jams) and father (of all battles).

How to pronounce mother of all

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mother of all”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “mother of all”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “mother of all” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.