mother country

柯林斯词典

1. N-COUNT Someone's mother country is the country in which they or their ancestors were born and to which they still feel emotionally linked, even if they live somewhere else. 祖国; 故土[oft with poss]
Dr. Kengerli looks to Turkey as his mother country. 肯戈理博士视土耳其为自己的祖国。
2. N-SING If you refer to the mother country of a particular state or country, you are referring to the very powerful country that used to control its affairs. (控制别国的)母国; 宗主国[usu 'the' N]
Australia, New Zealand, and Canada had no colonial conflict with the mother country. 澳大利亚、新西兰和加拿大与它们的宗主国之间没有发生过殖民冲突。