mama

• mamma, momma

Originally from baby talk. Possibly influenced by Middle English mome (“mother, aunt”), from Old English *mōme, from Proto-West Germanic *mōmā, from Proto-Germanic *mōmǭ (“mother, aunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-méh₂, reduplication of *méh₂- (“mother”), related to German Muhme (“aunt”), Latin mamma (“mother, nurse”), Irish mam (“mother”), Lithuanian mama, moma (“mother”).

• (General American) enPR: mäʹmə, IPA^(key): /ˈmɑmə/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /məˈmɑː/

• Audio (Berkshire, UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (General American) -ɑːmə, (UK) -ɑː

mama (plural mamas)

1. (hypocoristic, usually childish, Canada, US) Mother, female parent.

• amma, ma'am

From the prefix ma- and ama.

mama

1. father

• Kateřina Naitoro, A Sketch Grammar of 'Are'are: The Sound System and Morpho-Syntax (2013)

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mamaq, compare Malay mamah.

mama

1. to chew (tobacco, betel)

mama

1. father

mama

1. mother
2. woman

   Synonym: uman

• IPA^(key): /ma.ma/

mama

1. mother
2. Mrs., mistress (general respectful address for married women).

   tatanak mamanaka ― ladies and gentlemen

• Audio

  (file)

mama (definite accusative mamanı, plural mamalar)

1. (dialectal) paternal aunt [nt. 1]

   Synonym: bibi

2. mom

   Synonym: ana

3. midwife

   Synonym: mamaça

• “mama” in Obastan.com.

mama

1. (Timau) mother, mom, mama

• Umberto Patuzzi, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar, Luserna: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien.

• Hyphenation: ma‧ma
• IPA^(key): /ˈmama/

máma (masculine papa)

1. a mother; a (human) female who (a) parents a child (b) gives birth to a baby (c) donates a fertilized egg or (d) donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone. Sometimes used in reference to a pregnant female, possibly as a shortened form of mother-to-be

   Synonyms: ina, nanay

2. a term of address to one's mother, mother-in-law or wife

• Hyphenation: ma‧ma
• IPA^(key): /maˈmaʔ/

mamâ

1. betel nut

mama

1. A mother.

   Synonym: babu

From Latin mamma.

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ˈma.mə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ma/

mama f (plural mames)

1. (informal) mom
2. (anatomy) mamma

• càncer de mama (“breast cancer”)

• “mama” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “mama”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “mama” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “mama” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

mama

1. a mother; a (human) female who (a) parents a child (b) gives birth to a baby (c) donates a fertilized egg or (d) donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone. Sometimes used in reference to a pregnant female, possibly as a shortened form of mother-to-be

   Synonyms: ina, inahan, nanay

2. a term of address to one's mother, mother-in-law or wife

From English mama or French maman.

mama

1. mother

   Synonym: naha

   Coordinate term: papa

Loaned from French maman[1]

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑmaː/
• (Belgium) IPA^(key): /mɑˈmaː/
• Rhymes: -aː

mama f (plural mama's, diminutive mamaatje n)

1. mama, mother

   Mama, ik heb honger! ― Mommy, I’m hungry!

   Synonyms: ma, mam

   Synonyms: moeder, moe, (Flemish) moeke

• mamma

• mama appelsap

• Berbice Creole Dutch: mama
• Negerhollands: mama, Mama
  • → Virgin Islands Creole: muma

mama

1. grandmother

mama

1. ring (for one's finger)

From Latin mamma.

mama f (plural mamas)

1. (anatomy) mamma, breast

• mamar
• mamífero

mama

1. third-person singular present indicative of mamar
2. second-person singular imperative of mamar

Likely from Bengali মামা (mama)

mama

1. maternal uncle
2. husband of aunt
3. father-in-law
4. brother of father-in-law

• mamagipa (formal)
• mamatang (formal)

From Portuguese mama. Cognate with Kabuverdianu mama.

mama

1. bosom
2. breast of a woman

• IPA^(key): /màː.má/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [màː.mə́]

mā̀ma f (possessed form mā̀mar̃)

1. mother

   Synonym: uwa

mā̀ma m (possessed form mā̀man)

1. breast

   Synonym: nono

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɒmɒ]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ma‧ma
• Rhymes: -mɒ

mama (plural mamák)

1. mom, mum

   Synonyms: anya, anyu, édesanya, anyuka, anyuci

   Coordinate term: papa

2. (dialectal) grandmom

• mama in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Borrowed from English mama, French maman, German Mama, Italian mamma, Russian ма́ма (máma), Spanish mamá.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmama/

mama (plural mamai)

1. mama, mom, mommy, mum

   Synonym: matro

   Coordinate terms: papa, patro

• IPA^(key): /ˈmama/
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma
• Rhymes: -ma, -a

Originally from baby talk.

mama (plural mama-mama, first-person possessive mamaku, second-person possessive mamamu, third-person possessive mamanya)

1. mother: female parent.

   Synonyms: biyung, bunda, emak, embok, ibu, ibunda, ibung, indung, mak, mami, mandeh, mbok, umi

• mamah

Learned borrowing from Latin mamma, from Ancient Greek μάμμη (mámmē).

mama (plural mama-mama, first-person possessive mamaku, second-person possessive mamamu, third-person possessive mamanya)

1. mamma:
   1. (medicine) breast, udder: The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat.

      Synonyms: buah dada, bukit kembar, gunung kembar, payudara, susu, tetek, toket

   2. (meteorology) An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera.

• “mama” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Borrowed from Russian мама (mama).

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑmɑ/, [ˈmɑmɑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑmɑ/, [ˈmɑmɑ]
• Rhymes: -ɑmɑ
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

mama

1. mum, mama
   • 1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva:

     Kana, ka-ka-ka, na, mama, kana.

     A hen, cluck cluck cluck, here, mummy, a hen.

• papa (“dad; papa”)

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 295

From Latin mamma.

mama m (genitive singular mama, nominative plural mamaí)

1. (literary) breast, pap
2. (anatomy) mamma

   Synonym: faireog mhamach

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “mama”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “mama”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Entries containing “mama” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

From Latin mamma.

mama f

1. mom, mamma, mother

• mare

mama

1. Rōmaji transcription of まま
2. Rōmaji transcription of ママ

From Portuguese mama.

mama

1. bosom
2. breast of a woman

mama

1. you

• IPA^(key): [ˈmaːma]

mama

1. to chew betel

mama

1. to mother

• Allahverdi Verdizade (2019), “mama”, in Lamboya word list, Leiden: LexiRumah

A nursery word. From Proto-Slavic *mā́ˀmāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-méh₂, a reduplication of *méh₂- - the root of *méh₂tēr (“mother”).

Cognate with Proto-Slavic *mama, German Muhme (“aunt”), Latin mamma (“mother, nurse”), Irish mam (“mother”), Lithuanian mama, moma (“mother”) among others.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmama]
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

mama f (diminutive mameņa)

1. (colloquial) mum, mummy

• (more formal) muote

• tēte (“dad”)

• A. Andronov; L. Leikuma (2008) Latgalīšu-Latvīšu-Krīvu sarunu vuordineica, Lvava, →ISBN, page 10

A nursery word. From Proto-Balto-Slavic *mā́ˀmāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-méh₂, a reduplication of *méh₂- - the root of *méh₂tēr (“mother”).

Cognate with Proto-Slavic *mama, German Muhme (“aunt”), Latin mamma (“mother, nurse”), Irish mam (“mother”) among others.

mamà f (plural mãmos) stress pattern 4

1. mother

• mamýtė, mamẽlė (diminutive)

A nursery word. From Proto-Slavic *mama, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *mā́ˀmāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-méh₂, a reduplication of *méh₂- - the root of *méh₂tēr (“mother”).

Cognate with German Muhme (“aunt”), Latin mamma (“mother, nurse”), Irish mam (“mother”), Lithuanian mama, moma (“mother”) among others. Cf. Proto-Slavic *tata, *baba.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmama]

mama f (diminutive maminka)

1. mother, mom

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928), “mama”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999), “mama”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

From ma- and ama.

mama

1. male

mama

1. a male

• (Ye'kwana) maama

• IPA^(key): [mama]

mama

1. (De'kwana dialect) first-person possessed form of nü

From ma- and ama.

mama

1. male (clarification of this definition is needed)

mama

1. a male

• IPA^(key): /mama/

mama

1. paternal uncle (one’s father’s brother)

• Dench, Alan Charles. 1995. Martuthunira: A Language of the Pilbara Region of Western Australia. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. Series C-125.

From French maman.

mama

1. mother

From Hindi मामा (māmā) and Marathi मामा (māmā).

mama

1. uncle

   Synonyms: chacha, tonton

• Baker, Philip & Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. 1987. Dictionnaire de créole mauricien. Morisyen – English – Français

Possibly derived from Middle High German muome, from Old High German muoma, from Proto-West Germanic *mōmā (“mama, mother”), from Proto-Germanic *mōmǭ (“mama, mother; aunt, auntie”). Cognate with German Mama, English mama.

mama f

1. mother

• “mama” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.
• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

mama

1. mother

mama

1. genitive/dative singular of ahaṃ (“me”)

• IPA^(key): /mama/

mama

1. father

   Synonym: papu

2. paternal uncle (one’s father’s brother)

• Dench, Alan (1991). "Panyjima", in R.M.W. Dixon and Barry J. Blake: The Handbook of Australian Languages, Volume 4. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia, 125–244.

From Dutch mama.

mama

1. mother

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɐmɐ]

mama

1. father

   Synonym: punari

2. father’s older brother or close male friend; uncle

   Synonym: mama puḻka

3. god

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mama, itself nursery speech.

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.ma/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: ma‧ma

mama f

1. mum, mom, mother

• mama in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• mama in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɐmɐ, (Brazil) -ɐ̃mɐ
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

From Latin mamma. Compare Italian mammella, French mamelle.

mama f (plural mamas)

1. (human) breast, bosom
2. (animal) udder, teat

mama

1. inflection of mamar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

mama

1. mother
2. madam, lady
3. (figuratively) nest, home
4. (geology) vein
5. (mathematics) matrix

• jatun mama
• mama qucha

• tayta

mama

1. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

From Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information..

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. my mother
2. my maternal aunt

• nyoko (“your mother”)
• nyina (“his/her mother”)
• data (“my father”)

From Latin mamma, from Ancient Greek μάμμη (mámmē).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmama/

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. mother

• babbu
• tzia

• IPA^(key): /mâma/
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. mom

A Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. word. From Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., from Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., from Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., a reduplication of Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. - the root of Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information..

Cognate with German Muhme (“aunt”), Latin mamma (“mother, nurse”), Irish mam (“mother”), Lithuanian mama, moma (“mother”) among others. Cf. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information..

• Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

• mama in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

From Latin mamma.

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. mamma, breast

   Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

mama

1. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

• Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.”, in Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., Real Academia Española, 2014

• Audio (Kenya)

  (file)

  Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. (n class, plural Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.)

1. mother (Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.)

   Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

   Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

   Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

2. Respectful term of address for an older woman.

• mama mboga (“female vegetable hawker”)
• mama ntilie (“female food hawker”)
• mama samaki (“female fish hawker”)
• mama mdogo (“mother's younger sister”)
• mama mkubwa (“mother's elder sister”)

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mama, from Proto-Austronesian *mamah (“father’s brother”). Also possibly borrowed from Sanskrit माम or from Tamil மாமா. Compare Malay mamak.

• Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. a term used in referring to, or in addressing, a male unknown to the speaker

   Synonyms: mang, manong

2. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. uncle (parent's younger brother)
3. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. any relative of the father or mother

• mang

• ale

Each pronunciation has a different source:

• /maˈma/ from Spanish mamá, adapted from French maman
• /ma.ma/ from Hokkien 媽媽 (mâ-mâ)
• /ˈmama/ from English mama / momma

• Hyphenation: ma‧ma
• Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. (Spanish Pronunciation)
• Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. (Hokkien Pronunciation)
• Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. (English Pronunciation)

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. mum, mom

   Synonyms: ma, ina, nanay, inay, nay, inang, nanang

From Proto-Philippine *mamaq, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mamaq (“chew without intending to swallow, as betel nut; premasticate food to give to an infant; premasticated food”). Compare Javanese mamah, and Malay mamah.

• Hyphenation: ma‧ma
• Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. betelnut chewing

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

• Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.”, in Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., Manila: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2018

mama

1. to chew betel

From English mama.

mama

1. mother

   Antonym: papa

   • Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

     Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

• mama karim

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. mother, mom

• dada

• IPA^(key): [mɑˈmɑ]
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

1. baby food
2. pet food
3. food (in child's language)

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmama]

mama f (diminutive mamička or mamimka)

1. mama, mommy, mum

Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.

mama

1. to suck

From Latin mamma. Compare Italian mamma.

mama f (plural mame)

1. mother
2. mum, mummy

Compare Guugu Yimidhirr mayi.

mama

1. (vegetable-based) food

• Mary Laughren, Rob Pensalfini, Tom Mylne, Accounting for verb-initial order in an Australian language, in Verb First: On the syntax of verb-initial languages (2005)

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.ma/

mama

1. mother

   Synonym: mamu

The terms mama and mamu are used for referring to a mother, whereas the term yaya is used for addressing one's mother.

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.‎, Pacific linguistics

• mọ̀mọ́

Probably influenced by English mama, may have existed before contact with English though

• IPA^(key): /mà.má/

màmá

1. mother

   Synonyms: iye, ìyá, mọ́mì, yèyé, èye

2. a term of endearment or respect for an older woman or female relative

   Synonyms: iye, ìyá, mọ́mì, yèyé

• bàbá