1
archaic
: a parish church
the mother churches … and rural chapels in the late Saxon and early Norman periods—
Bulletin of Institute of Historical Research
2
: the principal church of a locality or land
specifically
: a cathedral or a metropolitan church
the mother church … which no visitor to these parts should fail to see —T. I. Ellis
3
: the original church from which others have sprung
the mother church of Unitarianism in America—Leo Pfeffer
4
: the original church or communion in which a person has been nurtured
returning to his mother church, he died in obscurity—K. S. Latourette
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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