English

Noun

allomother ‎(plural allomothers)

1. (zoology) A human or other creature that provides some maternal care for the young born of another.
   • 2000, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and how They Shape the Human Species‎, page 162:

     Within hours of birth, baby langurs are spirited away from their mothers. They spend up to 50 percent of daylight hours passed from allomother to allomother

   • 2009 March 3, Natalie Angier, “In a Helpless Baby, the Roots of Our Social Glue”, in New York Times:

     Among the !Kung foragers of the Kalahari, babies are held by a father, grandmother, older sibling or some other allomother maybe 25 percent of the time.

Related terms

• allomaternal

Translations

Verb

allomother ‎(third-person singular simple present allomothers, present participle allomothering, simple past and past participle allomothered)

1. (transitive) To provide maternal care for another creature's young.