'Mother is the first other'

Mother moth·er 1 (mr)
n.
1.
a. A female person who is pregnant with or gives birth to a child.
b. A female person whose egg unites with a sperm, resulting in the conception of a child.
c. A woman who adopts a child.
d. A woman who raises a child.
2. A female parent of an animal.
3. A female ancestor.
4. A woman who holds a position of authority or responsibility similar to that of a mother: a den mother.
5. Roman Catholic Church
a. A mother superior.
b. Used as a form of address for such a woman.
6. A woman who creates, originates, or founds something: "the discovery of radium, which made Marie Curie mother to the Atomic Age" (Alden Whitman).
7. A creative source; an origin: Philosophy is the mother of the sciences.
8. Used as a title for a woman respected for her wisdom and age.
9. Maternal love and tenderness: brought out the mother in her.
10. The biggest or most significant example of its kind: the mother of all battles.
11. Vulgar Slang Something considered extraordinary, as in disagreeableness, size, or intensity.
adj.
1. Relating to or being mother.
2. Characteristic of a mother: mother love.
3. Being the source or origin: the mother church.
4. Derived from or as if from one's mother; native: one's mother language.
v. moth·ered, moth·er·ing, moth·ers
v.tr.
1. To give birth to; create and produce.
2. To watch over, nourish, and protect maternally.
v.intr.
To act or serve as a mother.

Famous motherhood figures

 

 

Charity by Bouguereau 1878

• Bachue
• Bithiah
• Demeter
• Yashoda
• Dewi Sri
• Eve
• Gaia
• Isis
• Jocasta
• Juno
• Kwan Yin
• Mary
• Parvati
• Queen Maya
• Sita
• Venus

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_%281825-1905%29_-_Charity_%281878%29.jpg]

Growth

growth  (grth)

n.

1.

a. The process of growing.

b. Full development; maturity.

2. Development from a lower or simpler to a higher or more complex form; evolution.

3. An increase, as in size, number, value, or strength; extension or expansion: population growth.

4. Something that grows or has grown: a new growth of grass.

5. Pathology An abnormal mass of tissue, such as a tumor, growing in or on a living organism.

6. A result of growth; a product: concerns that are a growth of the new responsibilities.

adj.

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growth [grəʊθ]

n

1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Biology) the process or act of growing, esp in organisms following assimilation of food

2. an increase in size, number, significance, etc.

3. something grown or growing a new growth of hair

4. a stage of development

5. (Medicine / Pathology) any abnormal tissue, such as a tumour

6. (modifier) of, relating to, causing or characterized by growth a growth industry growth hormone

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growth  (grth)

An increase in the size of an organism or part of an organism, usually as a result of an increase in the number of cells. Growth of an organism may stop at maturity, as in the case of humans and other mammals, or it may continue throughout life, as in many plants. In humans, certain body parts, like hair and nails, continue to grow throughout life.

Consciousness

con·scious·ness  (knshs-ns)

n.

1. The state or condition of being conscious.

2. A sense of one's personal or collective identity, including the attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities held by or considered characteristic of an individual or group: Love of freedom runs deep in the national consciousness.

3.

a. Special awareness or sensitivity: class consciousness; race consciousness.

b. Alertness to or concern for a particular issue or situation: a movement aimed at raising the general public's consciousness of social injustice.

4. In psychoanalysis, the conscious.

Consciousness is a term that has been used to refer to a variety of aspects of the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined, at one time or another, as: subjective experience; awareness; the ability to experience feelings; wakefulness; having a sense of selfhood; or as the executive control system of the mind. Despite the difficulty of definition, many philosophers believe that there is a basic underlying intuition about consciousness that is shared by nearly all people. As Max Velmans and Susan Schneider wrote in The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness:

    "Anything that we are aware of at a given moment forms part of our consciousness, making conscious experience at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives.

In philosophy, consciousness is often said to imply four characteristics: subjectivity, change, continuity, and selectivity. Philosopher Franz Brentano has also suggested intentionality or aboutness (that consciousness is about something); however, there is no consensus on whether intentionality is a requirement for consciousness.

Issues of practical concern in the philosophy of consciousness include whether consciousness can ever be explained mechanistically; whether non-human consciousness exists and if so how it can be recognized; at what point in fetal development consciousness begins; and whether it may ever be possible for computers to achieve a conscious state.

At one time consciousness was viewed with skepticism by many scientists and considered within the domain of philosophers and theologians, but in recent years it has been an increasingly significant topic of scientific research. In psychology and neuroscience, the focus of most research is on understanding what it means biologically and psychologically for information to be present in consciousness—that is, on determining the neural and psychological correlates of consciousness. The majority of experimental studies use human subjects and assess consciousness by asking subjects for a verbal report of their experiences (e.g., "tell me if you notice anything when I do this"). Issues of interest include phenomena such as subliminal perception, blindsight, denial of impairment, and altered states of consciousness produced by psychoactive drugs or spiritual or meditative techniques.

In medicine, consciousness is assessed by observing a patient's arousal and responsiveness, and can be seen as a continuum of states ranging from full alertness and comprehension, through disorientation, then delirium, then loss of any meaningful communication, and ending with loss of movement in response to painful stimuli. Issues of practical concern include how the presence of consciousness can be assessed in severely ill, comatose, or anesthetized people, and how to treat conditions in which consciousness is impaired or disrupted.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness]

streams of consciousness

stream of consciousness

n. pl. streams of consciousness

1. A literary technique that presents the thoughts and feelings of a character as they occur.

2. Psychology The conscious experience of an individual regarded as a continuous, flowing series of images and ideas running through the mind.

stream of consciousness

n

1. (Psychology) Psychol the continuous flow of ideas, thoughts, and feelings forming the content of an individual's consciousness. The term was originated by William James

2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms)

a.  a literary technique that reveals the flow of thoughts and feelings of characters through long passages of soliloquy

b.  (as modifier) a stream-of-consciousness novel

Stream

stream  (strm)

n.

1.

a. A flow of water in a channel or bed, as a brook, rivulet, or small river.

b. A steady current in such a flow of water.

2. A steady current of a fluid.

3. A steady flow or succession: a stream of insults.

4. A trend, course, or drift, as of opinion, thought, or history.

5. A beam or ray of light.

6. Chiefly British A course of study to which students are tracked.

v. streamed, stream·ing, streams

v.intr.

1. To flow in or as if in a stream.

2. To pour forth or give off a stream; flow: My eyes were streaming with tears.

3. To come or go in large numbers; pour: Traffic was streaming by. Fan mail streamed in.

4. To extend, wave, or float outward: The banner streamed in the breeze.

5.

a. To leave a continuous trail of light.

b. To give forth a continuous stream of light rays or beams; shine.

v.tr.

1. To emit, discharge, or exude (a body fluid, for example).

2. Computer Science To transmit (data) in real time, especially over the Internet.

Baby

baby [ˈbeɪbɪ]

n pl -bies

1.

a.  a newborn or recently born child; infant

b.  (as modifier) baby food

2. the youngest or smallest of a family or group

3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Zoology)

a.  a newborn or recently born animal

b.  (as modifier) baby rabbits

4. Usually derogatory an immature person

5. Slang a young woman or sweetheart: often used as a term of address expressing affection

6. a project of personal concern

be left holding the baby to be left with the responsibility

throw the baby out with the bath water to lose the essential element by indiscriminate rejection

adj

(prenomial) comparatively small of its type a baby car

vb -bies, -bying, -bied (tr)

1. to treat with love and attention

2. to treat (someone) like a baby; pamper or overprotect

[probably childish reduplication; compare mama, papa]

babyhood  n

babyish  adj

Shape

shape  (shp)

n.

1.

a. The characteristic surface configuration of a thing; an outline or contour.

b. Something distinguished from its surroundings by its outline.

2. The contour of a person's body; the figure.

3.

b. A desirable form: a fabric that holds its shape.

4. A form or condition in which something may exist or appear

5. Assumed or false appearance; guise.

6. A ghostly form; a phantom.

7. Something, such as a mold or pattern, used to give or determine form.

8. The proper condition of something necessary for action, effectiveness, or use: an athlete in excellent shape.

v. shaped, shap·ing, shapes

v.tr.

1. To give a particular form to; create.

2. To cause to conform to a particular form or pattern; adapt to fit.

3.

a. To plan to bring about the realization or accomplishment of; devise.

b. To embody in a definite form: shaped a folk legend into a full-scale opera.

4.

a. To adapt to a particular use or purpose; adjust.

b. To direct the course of: "He shaped history as well as being shaped by it" (Robert J. Samuelson).

v.intr.

1. To come to pass; happen.

2. To take on a definite shape or form. Often used with up or into.