教母

jiàomǔ

noun

Measure Word

一位教母 wèi

Meanings

1 godmother (Christian baptismal sponsor)
2 godmother (figurative, of a movement or genre)

Characters

religion / teach

Examples

她是我女儿的教母。

Tā shì wǒ nǚ'ér de jiàomǔ.

She is my daughter's godmother.

麦当娜被誉为流行音乐的教母。

Màidāngnà bèi yùwéi liúxíng yīnyuè de jiàomǔ.

Madonna is hailed as the godmother of pop music.

Tips

culture

教 (religion / teaching) + 母 (mother) is a calque of the Christian role 'godmother.' The masculine counterpart is 教父 (jiàofù, godfather) — the same word used for the Coppola film 《教父》 The Godfather, which extends naturally to mafia/mentor figures in Chinese.

Stroke Order

教 jiāo

母 mǔ