As one of the first utterances many babies are able to say,baba (likemama,papa, anddada) has come to be used in many languages as a term for various family members:

• father: Albanian, Arabic, Western Armenian, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Greek, Marathi, Mingrelian, Nepali, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, Yoruba, Shona, Zulu
• grandmother: many Slavic languages (such as Bulgarian, Russian, Czech and Polish; adoublet ofbubbe), Romanian, Yiddish, Japanese
• grandfather: Azerbaijani, Zulu (father, grandfather)
• baby: Afrikaans, Sinhala, Hungarian

These terms often continue to be used by English speakers whose families came from one of these cultures. In some cases, they may become more widely used in localities that have been heavily influenced by an immigrant community. Some senses were extensions of one of these family terms in the original languages ("old woman" from "grandmother", "holy man" from "father"). The "cake" sense comes throughFrench, fromPolishbaba(“old woman”). The Middle Eastern wordbaba (as inAli Baba) is rather a term of endearment, and is ultimately derived fromPersianبابا(bābā,“father”) (fromOld Persianpāpa; as opposed to the Arabic wordsأَبُو(ʔabū) andأَب(ʔab); see alsoPapak), and is linguistically related to the common European wordpapa and the wordpope, having the sameIndo-European origin. The Chinese word "baba", meaning father, comes from爸爸.

• IPA^(key):(variously)/ˈbɑːbɑː/,/ˈbɑːbə/,/ˈbæbə/

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɑːbɑː,-ɑːbə,-æbə

baba (pluralbabas)

2. A kind ofsponge cake soaked in rum-flavouredsyrup.
3. (especially among people of East European ancestry) Agrandmother.
   • 1993, Karen Dubinsky,Improper Advances: Rape and Heterosexual Conflict in Ontario, 1880-1929, University of Chicago Press:

     Mybaba, Ksenia Dubinsky, tells me that my education makes her proud.

   • 2001,Brattleboro Remembers, edited by the Brattleboro [Vermont] Historical Society, Arcadia Publishing

     I walked first for my grandmother, and my mother was sorry she had missed my first steps. MyBaba was so proud, my mother later told me.

   • 2004, MaryBeth Bond, editor,A Woman's Europe: True Stories:

     As we made eye contact, I slowly began to wonder if she wasBaba. I did not know my grandmother though I'd spoken with her several times on the telephone;

4. Anold woman, especially a traditional old woman from an eastern European culture.
   • 1914, Russell Sage Foundation,Wage-earning Pittsburgh:

     Only two women, typical "babas" (peasant women) in the house from which I got my quilt and bedcloth, could be coaxed to pose;

   • 1986, Janice Kulyk Keefer,The Paris-Napoli Express:

     Laura hadn't known that anyone's mother could look like that, like thebabas you sometimes saw downtown, bandaged in kerchiefs and aprons, sitting toothless in stockinged feet on small verandahs, peeling potatoes or beets or just shaking their heads and grimacing.

   • 2003, Colin Michael Hall, Liz Sharples, editors,Food Tourism Around The World: Development, Management and Markets:

     According to some, new volunteers are becoming more difficult to recruit and there are dark suggestions that 'money is being made on the backs of thebabas', the dedicated, but ageing ladies who still spend countless hours of their time preparing foodstuffs for the occasion.

5. (especially among people of Indian or Chinese ancestry) Afather.
   • 1849, Edward Bulwer Lytton,The Caxtons:

     The first time I signed my exercise I wrote "Pisistratus Caxton" in my best round-hand. "And dey call yourbaba a scholar!" said the Doctor, contemptuously.

   • 1998,Mulan (movie)

     "The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter. I've missed you so." "I've missed you too,baba."

   • 2002,Bend It Like Beckham (movie)

     Okay. Okay. Fine,baba. Let's just do it before something else goes wrong.

   • 2003,House of Sand and Fog (movie)

     "Do not be disrespectful, son. Look at me." "Baba, were you a Savaki?"

6. (Hinduism,Islam,Sikhism) Aholy man, aspiritualleader.
   • 1995, Hugh J.M. Johnston, Tara Singh Bains,The Four Quarters of the Night: The Life-Journey of an Emigrant Sikh:

     While I was in Port Alberni, threebabas came to Canada to raise money ...

   • 2004, Andrew Robinson,Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker:

     But according to Ray, 'all thebabas my uncle knew were genuine. None of them was exposed. They were fairly humble people, not show-offs like the Maharishi ...

   • 2006, Suraiya Faroqhi,Subjects Of The Sultan: Culture And Daily Life In The Ottoman Empire:

     Mostbabas had little contact with written culture and are not therefore named in books and treatises.

7. (British India) Ababy,child.
   • 1876, Sir George Otto Trevelyan,The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay:

     That is to say, if I do not take care, I shall go on calling my darling 'Baba' till she is as old as her mamma, and has a dozenBabas of her own.

   • 1904, Rudyard Kipling,Traffics and Discoveries:

     For my child is dead—mybaba is dead!

8. Inbaby talk, often used for a variety of words beginning withb, such asbottle orblanket.
   • 2004,House (TV, episode 1.14)

     Oh, it's storytime! Let me get mybaba.

•  baba on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• ABBA,AABB,Abba,abba

• Audio:

  (file)

baba (pluralbabas)

1. baby

• babetjie

baba (presentbaba,present participlebabaende,past participlegebaba)

1. totreat withgentlecare, tocoddle

FromOttoman Turkishبابا(baba), whenceTurkishbaba.

• IPA^(key):/baˈba/

• Audio:

  (file)

babá m (pluralbaballárë,definitebabái)

1. dad,father

   Synonyms:bábë,átë

• Baba Dimri

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

• IPA^(key):/ˈbaba/

bába

1. inflection ofbábë:
   1. definitenominativesingular
   2. indefinitenominative/accusativeplural

• IPA^(key):/baba/

baba (Bengali scriptবাবা)

1. father
2. paternal uncle
3. son

(father):

• awa
• wa•

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015.Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online:https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

• IPA^(key):[bɑˈbɑ]
• Hyphenation:ba‧ba

• Audio(Baku):

  (file)

baba (definite accusativebabanı,pluralbabalar)

1. grandfather

   Coordinate term:nənə

2. term of address for old men

FromProto-Basque, ultimately fromLatinfaba.

• IPA^(key):/baba/,[ba.β̞a]

• Audio:

  (file)

baba inan

1. broad bean
2. bean,green bean

   Synonym:babarrun

3. blister

• “baba”, inEuskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque),Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “baba”, inOrotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary],Euskaltzaindia,1987–2005

• babè(Meester)

baba

1. father

   Synonyms:aba,abi,ayah,bapa'

Inherited fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*babaq, fromProto-Austronesian*babaq.

• Hyphenation:ba‧ba
• IPA^(key):/baˈbaʔ/ [baˈbaʔ]

babâ (Basahan spellingᜊᜊ)

1. downstairs

   Antonym:taas

babâ (Basahan spellingᜊᜊ)

1. shortness,lowness(based on height)

   Antonym:langkaw

2. (dialectal)bottom;below

   Antonym:babaw

3. descent

   Synonym:palos

4. disembarkment

   Synonym:lusad

5. act of goingdownstairs

   Synonym:hilig

6. decrease;lowering of quantity or measurement

   Synonym:ina

• Hyphenation:ba‧ba
• IPA^(key):/ˈbabaʔ/ [ˈba.baʔ]

babà (Basahan spellingᜊᜊ)

1. (anatomy)chin

   Synonym:kuko

Frompadaba(“loved one, term of endearment”).

• Hyphenation:ba‧ba
• IPA^(key):/ˈbabaʔ/ [ˈba.baʔ]

babà (Basahan spellingᜊᜊ)

1. (Tabaco–Legazpi–Sorsogon,slang)loved one

Inherited fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*baqbaq.

First attested inAntonio Pigafetta'sRelazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo—detailing thefirst circumnavigation of the world between 1519 and 1522.

• IPA^(key):/ˈbaʔba/ [ˈbaʔ.bɐ]
• Rhymes:-aʔ
• Hyphenation:ba‧ba

bâbâ (Badlit spellingᜊᜊ)

1. (anatomy)mouth
2. mouth of ariver
3. outlet;aperture;orifice
4. talk; emptyboasting, promises or claims

bâbâ (Badlit spellingᜊᜊ)

1. tohit, be hit orinjured in the mouth

Compareabaga.

• IPA^(key):/baˈba/ [bɐˈba]
• Rhymes:-a
• Hyphenation:ba‧ba

babá (Badlit spellingᜊᜊ)

1. topiggyback; to carry someone on the back

• For quotations using this term, seeCitations:baba.

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

• Hyphenation:ba‧ba

baba

1. father
2. dad

• “baba”, inLuğatçıq (in Russian)

• bába

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*baba.

• IPA^(key):[ˈbaba]
• Rhymes:-aba

baba f

1. crone,hag
2. coward,milksop

   Synonym:zbabělec

3. (informal)girl,chick

• “baba”, inKartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “baba” inAkademický slovník současné češtiny, 2012–2025, slovnikcestiny.cz
• “baba”, inInternetová jazyková příručka (in Czech),2008–2025

Unknown.

baba (pluralbabanima)

1. Title of the second chief butcher

baba

1. plural ofbabli(a featherless fowl)

baba

1. Father

baba

1. termite,white ant^[1]

FromZuluubaba, fromProto-Bantu*bààbá.

baba

1. father

FromPolishbaba, probably viaFrench.

• IPA^(key):/ˈbɑbɑ/,[ˈbɑ̝bɑ̝]
• Rhymes:-ɑbɑ
• Syllabification^(key):ba‧ba
• Hyphenation^(key):ba‧ba

baba

1. baba,babka(type of cake)

• “baba”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved2023-07-02

• IPA^(key):/ba.ba/

Borrowed fromPolishbaba, introduced in France in the eighteenth century at the court ofStanisław Leszczyński, king of Poland, duke ofLorraine and father-in-law of Louis XV.

baba m (pluralbabas)

1. baba(type of cake)

   baba au rhum ―rum baba

Onomatopoeic.

baba (pluralbabas)

1. (colloquial)flabbergasted
   • 1999,Anna Gavalda, “Ambre”, inJe voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part,→ISBN:

     C’était un Argentin qui mesurait au moins deux mètres, il souriait tout les temps. J’étaisbaba devant ses tatouages.

     He was an Argentinian who was at least six foot six. He was always smiling. I wasstunned by his tattoos.

• “baba”, inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.

Attested since the 18th century. From the hypothesizedVulgar Latin*baba, ultimatelyimitative of children speech on the pattern of the repeated syllableba.

• IPA^(key):[ˈbaβɐ]

baba f (pluralbabas)

1. drool

   Synonym:baballa

2. slime(mucus-like substance which exudes from the bodies of certain animals)

   Synonyms:baballa,limo

• baballa
• babar
• babexar

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “baba”, inDicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández,Ernesto Xosé González Seoane,María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “baba”, inTesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “baba”, inTesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega,→ISSN

baba

1. inflection ofbabar:
   1. third-personsingularpresentindicative
   2. second-personsingularimperative

Likely fromBengaliবাবা(baba).

baba

1. father

• paa
• pagipa
• apa

A link of the term with theEnglishbye-bye is possible but not certain.

• IPA^(key):/baˈbaː/,(Austria)[b̥aˈb̥aː]
• Rhymes:-aː

baba

1. (informal,Austria)bye-bye,see you,so long

• Especially in East Austria,baba is the most commonly used informal term for saying "goodbye".

• “baba” inDigitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “baba (Abschiedsgruß)” inDuden online

FromTurkishbaba.

• IPA^(key):/ˈbaba/

baba (indeclinable,predicative only)

1. (slang)boss,rad,fly

   Synonyms:Bombe,geisteskrank

   Diese Jacke sieht richtigbaba aus.

   This jacket looks bare nang.

   Ich finde den Schnittbaba.

   I deem the fit thrilling.

A widespread areal word.

• IPA^(key):/bàː.bá/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa)IPA^(key):[bàː.bə́]

bā̀ba m (possessed formbā̀ban)

1. father
2. Used as a term of address for a man of appropriate age to be one's father, or who shares one's father's name.

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key):/bàː.báː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa)IPA^(key):[bàː.báː]

bā̀bā m (pluralbā̀bànni,possessed formbā̀ban)

1. eunuch
2. impotent man

Probably an early borrowing fromKanuribáwà(“paternal aunt”).

• IPA^(key):/báː.bà/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa)IPA^(key):[báː.bə̀]

bābà f (possessed formbābàr̃)

1. paternal aunt

• Hausa vocabulary. In: Haspelmath, M. & Tadmor, U. (eds.)World Loanword Database. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key):/báː.báː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa)IPA^(key):[báː.báː]

bābā m (possessed formbāban)

1. indigo(the plant, or the dye from it)

baba

1. mouth

bábaorbâbâ

1. mouth

Onomatopoeic.^[1] It may be adoublet ofbáb.

• IPA^(key):[ˈbɒbɒ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation:ba‧ba
• Rhymes:-bɒ

baba (pluralbabák)

1. doll(toy in the form of a human)
2. baby,infant(very young human child, particularly from birth until walking is mastered)

   Synonyms:csecsemő,kisbaba,bébi

3. (in the possessive,folk songs)baby,darling(term of endearment for a girlfriend, or less often, a boyfriend)

   Synonyms:kedves,(also in the possessive)pár

baba (comparativebabább,superlativelegbabább)

1. (slang)swell,neat(exceptionally good, pleasing or enjoyable)

• baba inGéza Bárczi,László Országh,et al., editors,A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.Fifth ed., 1992:→ISBN.
• baba inNóra Ittzés, editor,A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031(work in progress; publisheda–ez as of 2024).

FromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*babaq.

• Hyphenation:ba‧ba
• IPA^(key):/baˈba/,[bɐˈba]

baba

1. below

   Adda idiaybaba

   It's down there.

• IPA^(key):/ˈba.ba/
• Rhymes:-ba,-a
• Hyphenation:ba‧ba

Borrowed fromBetawibaba.

baba (pluralbaba-baba)

1. father

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

baba (pluralbaba-baba)

1. (nautical)rat

Cognate ofCebuanobabá(“topiggyback”).

baba

1. topiggyback: to carry someone on the back

• “baba” inKamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta:Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

baba

1. Rōmaji transcription ofばば

baba m

1. father

• IPA^(key):/ˈbaba/[ˈbaː.bʌ](“tree”,noun)
  • Rhymes:-aba
• IPA^(key):/baˈba/[bʌˈba](“herb”,noun)
  • Rhymes:-a
• Syllabification:ba‧ba

bába

1. Eugenia mananquil Blanco (amyrtaceous tree with an edible fruit)

babá

1. Laggera alata (a common composite herb with pinkish flowers)

• Morice Vanoverbergh (1933) “baba”, inA Dictionary of Lepanto Igorot or Kankanay. As it is spoken at Bauco (Linguistische Anthropos-Bibliothek; XII)‎^[2], Mödling bei Wien, St. Gabriel, Österreich: Verlag der Internationalen Zeitschrift „Anthropos“,→OCLC, page51

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*baba.

• IPA^(key):/ˈba.ba/
• Rhymes:-aba
• Syllabification:ba‧ba

baba f

1. (colloquial,derogatory)woman,wife
2. (humorous)Synonym ofakùszerka(“accoucheuse, midwife”)

• Stefan Ramułt (1893) “baba”, inSłownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego (in Kashubian), page 4
• Sychta, Bernard (1967) “baba”, inSłownik gwar kaszubskich [Dictionary of Kashubian dialects] (in Polish), volumes 1 (A – Ǵ), Wrocław: Ossolineum, page 9
• Jan Trepczyk (1994) “baba”, inSłownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “baba”, inSłownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[3]
• “baba”, inInternetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby,2022

• baaba

• IPA^(key):/βàːβǎꜜ/

The firsta is pronounced long.^[1]

As for Tonal Class, Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 6 with a disyllabic stem, together withmũgwacĩ,nyamũ, and so on.

• (Kiambu)

• (Limuru) As for Tonal Class, Yukawa (1981) classifies this term into a group includingguka,gũtũ,mũguĩ,mũtwe,nyamũ,ruo,rũhĩ (pl.hĩ),rũkũ (pl.ngũ),taata(“my aunt”),ũta (pl.mota),ũthiũ (pl.mothiũ), and so on.^[2]

• (Ndia) The same underlying pattern as that ofrũhĩ andmothiũ.^[3]
• (Nyeri) The same underlying pattern as that ofmothiũ andruo.^[3]

baba class1

1. myfather,dad

• (thy)thoguo;(his/her)ithe

Borrowed from aSlavic language, fromProto-Slavic*baba.Doublet ofbuoba.

• IPA^(key):[ˈbaba]
• Hyphenation:ba‧ba

baba f (diminutivebabeņa)

1. grandmother

• (dialectal)vace

• dzeds(“grandfather”)

• A. Andronov, L. Leikuma (2008)Latgalīšu-Latvīšu-Krīvu sarunu vuordineica, Lvava,→ISBN, page10

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*baba.

• IPA^(key):/ˈbaba/

baba f (diminutivebabka)

1. midwife
2. old woman
3. woman

baba f (diminutivebabka)

1. sponge cake

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

baba

1. father

• (Johor-Selangor)IPA^(key):/babə/
• (Riau-Lingga)IPA^(key):/baba/
• Rhymes:-abə,-bə,-ə

Voicedbapa.

baba (Jawi spellingباب,pluralbaba-baba)

1. father(male parent)

• bapa (bapanda,bapai,bapak,bapang,papa)
• ayah (ayahanda,aya,yah)
• abah (aba,bah)
• rama

Possiblyborrowed fromPersianبابا(bâbâ). SeeBaba (honorific).

• babah

baba (Jawi spellingباب,pluralbaba-baba)

1. A colonialStraits-bornEuropean,Eurasian, orChineseman(as opposed to immigrant Chinese or European males)
2. (archaic)Respectfulterm of address for aPortuguesegentleman

• Baba

• “baba” inPusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur:Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901) “باب baba”, inA Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, pages72-73
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “baba”, inA Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume II, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page59

FromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*babaq.

baba

1. below

FromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*baqbaq.

baba

1. mouth

FromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*baba, compareMalaybawa.

baba

1. tocarry

• (phonetic)IPA^(key):[pˠɑːbˠɑ],(enunciated)[pˠɑ pˠɑ]
• (phonemic)IPA^(key):/pˠæɰpˠæɰ/
• Bender phonemes:{bahbah}

baba

1. father
2. daddy

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

baba

1. father

   La katskats tasàk à kəslah iyaw aŋatà à ahəŋ lababa aŋatà gà, tanəfà Yesu. (Mata 4:22)

   And immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus. (Matthew 4:22)

• wawa

FromProto-Bantu*bààbá.

baba class1a (pluralwababa)

1. father

Inherited fromAssameseবাবা(baba).

• IPA^(key):/ba.ba/

baba

1. father,baba

   Synonym:bap

• Shreedar, M.V. (1985)Standardized Grammar of Naga Pidgin‎^[4], Mysore:Central Institute of Indian Languages

FromAssameseবাবা(baba).

baba

1. father,baba

baba

1. water
2. rain,rainwater

• Aboriginal Languages of the Pilbara: Ngarluma (1990);HG

• IPA^(key):/babaʔ/

baba (pluralababa)

1. termite

• IPA^(key):(13^th CE)/ˈbaba/
• IPA^(key):(15^th CE)/ˈbaba/

baba f

1. Alternative form ofbába

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “baba”, inSlovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague:Česká grafická společnost "unie",Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*baba. First attested in 1393.

• IPA^(key):(10^th–15^th CE)/baba/
• IPA^(key):(15^th CE)/baba/

baba f (diminutivebabka)

1. (attested inGreater Poland)grandma(parent's mother)

   Synonym:babina

   • 1888 [1393], Romuald Hube, editor,Zbiór rot przysiąg sądowych poznańskich, kościańskich, kaliskich, sieradzkich, piotrkowskich i dobrzyszyckich z końca wieku XIV i pierwszych lat wieku XV‎^[5],Greater Poland, page67:

     Meczko bliszszi po swebabe ku te dzedzine

     [Miec(z)ko bliższy po swebabie ku te dziedzinie]

2. The meaning of this term is uncertain.
   • 1868 [1472],Akta grodzkie i ziemskie z czasów Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej : z archiwum tak zwanego bernardyńskiego we Lwowie w skutek fundacyi śp. Alexandra hr. Stadnickiego‎^[6], volume XII, page347:

     Que sibi cessit post matrem suam al. pobabye

     [Que sibi cessit post matrem suam al. pobabie]

3. (attested inGreater Poland)grandma(any old woman)
   • 1930 [c.1455], “Gen”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor,Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^[7],18, 13:

     Dopyoro bødø rodzycz, yusz bødøczibabø (num vere paritura sum anus)?

     [Dopioro będę rodzić już będęcybabą (num vere paritura sum anus)?]

   • c.1500,Wokabularz lubiński,Lubiń: inkunabuł Archiwum Archidiecezjalnego w Gnieźnie, sygn. Inc. 78d., page11r:

     Anus eyn weyp vel culus; versus: dum se curuat anusbąba, retro sibi sibilat anus - posterior pars alterius rzycz

     [Anus eyn weyp vel culus; versus: dum se curuat anusbaba, retro sibi sibilat anus - posterior pars alterius rzyć]

4. (attested inGreater Poland)woman
   • 1907 [c.1470],Jakub Parkoszowic, edited byJan Łoś,Traktat o ortografii polskiej‎^[8],Żurawica, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship,Krakow, page404:

     Babø bik bodze

     [Babę byk bodzie]

   • 1895 [1412],Archiwum Komisji Prawniczej. Collectanea ex Archivo Collegii Iuridici‎^[9], volume X, page347:

     Baba stara

     [Baba stara]

5. midwife
   • Middle of the 15th century,Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎^[10], page63:

     Jozef... wyszedł barzo rącze, chcąc wezwać...baby albo panie (obstetrices cupiens vocare)

     [Jozef... wyszedł barzo rącze, chcąc wezwać...baby albo panie (obstetrices cupiens vocare)]

6. pear(Pyrus communis)
   • 1900 [1472], Józef Rostafiński, editor,Symbola ad historiam naturalem medii aevi = Średniowieczna historya naturalna w Polsce. Ps 2‎^[11], number206:

     Baba pira

     [Baba pira]

7. (attested inSieradz-Łęczyca)(in theplural,astronomy)Pleiades
   • 1874-1891 [1466],Rozprawy i Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Wydziału Filologicznego Akademii Umiejętności‎^{[12],[13],[14]}, volume XXII,Łęczyca, page22:

     Baby pliades

     [Baby pliades]

8. Corruption of the proper noun Bala.
   • 1930 [c.1455], “Gen”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor,Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^[15],35, 22:

     Spal z zonø otcza swego, ktoreyze toBaba rzekla (dormivit cum Bala)

     [Spał z żoną otca swego, ktorejże toBaba rzeczono (dormivit cum Bala)]

• Polish:baba
• Silesian:baba

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “baba”, inSłownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie,→ISBN
• Mańczak, Witold (2017) “baba”, inPolski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności,→ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “baba”, inEtymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• Sławski, Franciszek (1958-1965) “baba”, inJan Safarewicz, Andrzej Siudut, editors,Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), Kraków: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “baba”, inSłownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków:IJP PAN,→ISBN
• Ewa Deptuchowa, Mariusz Frodyma, Katarzyna Jasińska, Magdalena Klapper, Dorota Kołodziej, Mariusz Leńczuk, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, editors (2023), “baba”, inRozariusze z polskimi glosami. Internetowa baza danych [Dictionaries of Polish glosses, an Internet database] (in Polish), Kraków:Pracownia Języka Staropolskiego Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk