모태

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 母 (“mother”) + 胎 (“embryo”)

Pronunciation
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ˈmo̞(ː)tʰɛ] ~ [ˈmo̞(ː)tʰe̞]
  • Phonetic hangul: [모(ː)태/모(ː)테]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?motae
Revised Romanization (translit.)?motae
McCune–Reischauer?mot'ae
Yale Romanization?mō.thay

Noun

모태 • (motae) (hanja 母胎)

  1. (rare) The womb
  2. matrix
    그리스‐로마 사회는 서양 문명의 모태였다.
    Geuriseu‐roma sahoe-neun seoyang munmyeong-ui motae-yeotda.
    The Greco-Roman world was the matrix for Western civilization.
  3. (colloquial) since birth (used only in compounds)

Synonyms
  • 모체 (母體, moche, “mother, parent”)

Derived terms
  • 모태신앙 (motaesinang, “religion one is born into”)
  • 모태솔로 (motaesollo, “person who has never had a romantic partner”)
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