mothering sunday
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.62 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
5
Syllables
14
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "...on Mothering Sunday, when all the ‘servant-lads’ and ‘servant wenches’ are, in some parts of the country, set at liberty for a day, to go and see their mothers..."
- "Mary, it's twenty good year—twenty-one, come Mothering Sunday—'Since he was here at the farm."
- ""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.""
- "Mothering Sunday is a British, Christian tradition. The Americans celebrate ‘Mother's Day’ later in the year."
Etymology
From the former British custom of visiting mother churches (q.v.) at Mid-Lent, which by the English Civil War had passed on to servants receiving leave to go a-mothering, visiting and providing small gifts to their families. Revived as a national tradition in the early 20th century after the model of Mother's Day in the United States.
Usage
- British usage