What does cummer mean?
A cummer is a godmother, or by extension a close female friend or companion. The word belongs chiefly to Scots and northern English dialect, where it has long served as the customary term for the woman who sponsors a child at baptism alongside the gossib or godfather. Beyond this ceremonial role, cumser came to describe any intimate female acquaintance — someone with whom one shares confidences and conversation — which links it to the older sense of 'gossip' as a familiar friend rather than idle talk. Today the word survives mostly in Scotland, in traditional speech, folk song, and literature, where it evokes warmth, familiarity, and community ritual. Its compound origin — essentially 'co-mother,' joining the godmother and the child's mother in spiritual kinship — makes it part of a wider European family of words built on shared sponsorship, such as compadre and commare. For readers interested in regional English, cummer offers a vivid glimpse of how baptismal kinship once shaped everyday social bonds.
nounA cummer is a godmother, or more broadly a close female friend, companion, or gossip — especially in Scottish usage.
- A godmother.
- A close female friend, companion, or familiar acquaintance; an old sense also covering a gossipy crony.
"The wean's cummer held her at the christening, as tradition required."
"Every bairn at the kirk that morning had a cummer standing witness to the baptism."
"The two old women had been cumsers since girlhood, sharing every confidence."
Standard plural formation; occasionally the form 'cummies' appears in dialect use, but 'cumsers' is the regular plural.
"The two cumsers walked home together after the service, deep in conversation."
Before 'gossip' meant idle chatter, it meant your godparents — and in Scotland, the female one was called your cummer.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cummer
Cummer comes from Scots, formed as a compound of 'co-' or 'cum' (together) with 'mither/mother,' paralleling Middle English 'gossib' (god-sib, i.e., god-relative). It denotes the spiritual co-mother created between a child's mother and the godmother at baptism. It is cognate in concept with Romance terms like Italian 'commare' and Spanish 'comadre,' all descending from the Late Latin 'commater' (co-mother), the same root that gave rise to 'gossip' through Old English 'godsibb.'
How cummer is actually used
The word is chiefly Scots and is now largely confined to older speakers, traditional contexts, and literary use. It carries a warm, folksy, somewhat archaic connotation. The extended sense of a chatty female companion overlaps with the original meaning of 'gossip.'
Easily confused with cummer
While both terms can denote a familiar acquaintance, 'gossip' in its older sense referred to a godparent of either sex or a close crony, whereas a cummer specifically denotes a godmother or female companion.