mother: the woman who bore and raised someone, or anything standing in that nurturing, originating role
The word's primary and overwhelming use is for a biological mother, the woman who gave birth to a child and stands in that bond of origin and care. It appears across birth narratives, family commands, and the scenes around Jesus where his own mother Mary is present.
A small but pointed set of uses extends the word to cities or forces understood as a source or nurturer: Jerusalem above is called "our mother" in Galatians 4:26 in an allegory of freedom and bondage, and Babylon is addressed as the "mother of prostitutes" in Revelation 17:5. These are deliberate metaphors that draw their force entirely from the literal meaning, naming something a mother is calling it the originating, defining source of those who come from it.
The figurative uses never stray far enough to need a different English word. Both senses rest on the same underlying concept: the one who brought you into being and whose nature shapes your own.