• mamma,momma,mumma

Originally from baby talk. Possibly influenced byMiddle Englishmome(“mother, aunt”), fromOld English*mōme, fromProto-West Germanic*mōmā, fromProto-Germanic*mōmǭ(“mother, aunt”), fromProto-Indo-European*méh₂-méh₂, reduplication of*méh₂-(“mother”), related toGermanMuhme(“aunt”),Latinmamma(“mother, nurse”),Irishmam(“mother”),Lithuanianmama,moma(“mother”).

• (UK)IPA^(key):/məˈmɑː/

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

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

• Audio(US):

  (file)

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

mama (pluralmamas)

1. (hypocoristic, usuallychildish,Canada,US)Mother,femaleparent.
   • 1990,Prince, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, performed bySinéad O’Connor:

     All the flowers that you planted,mama, in the backyard / All died when you went away

• amma,ma'am

FromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*mamaq, compareMalaymamah.

mama

1. tochew (tobacco,betel)

mama

1. father

From the prefixma- andama.

mama

1. father

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

mama

1. mother
2. woman

   Synonym:uman

• IPA^(key):/ma.ma/

mama

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

   tatanakmamanaka ―ladies and gentlemen

• Audio:

  (file)

mama (definite accusativemamanı,pluralmamalar)

1. (dialectal)paternal aunt^{[nt. 1]}

   Synonym:bibi

2. mom

   Synonym:ana

3. midwife

   Synonym:mamaça

• “mama” inObastan.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.

Possibly fromSpanishmamá. CompareTagalogmama,Cebuanomama.

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

máma (masculinepapa)

1. amother; a (human)female who (a)parents achild (b) givesbirth to ababy (c) donates a fertilized egg or (d) donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone. Sometimes used in reference to apregnant female, possibly as a shortened form ofmother-to-be

   Synonyms:ina,nanay

2. aterm of address to one'smother,mother-in-law orwife

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

mamâ

1. betel nut

mama

1. Amother.

   Synonym:babu

FromLatinmamma.

• IPA^(key):(Central,Balearic)[ˈma.mə]
• IPA^(key):(Valencia)[ˈma.ma]

mama f (pluralmames)

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

• càncer de mama(“breast cancer”)

• “mama”, inDiccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition,Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan:Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
• “mama”, inGran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana,Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana,2025.
• “mama” inDiccionari normatiu valencià,Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “mama” inDiccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

mama

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

Possibly fromSpanishmamá. CompareTagalogmama,Bikol Centralmama.

• Hyphenation:ma‧ma

mama

1. amother; a (human)female who (a)parents achild (b) givesbirth to ababy (c) donates a fertilized egg or (d) donates a body cell which has resulted in a clone

   Synonyms:ina,inahan,nanay

2. aterm of address to one'smother,mother-in-law orwife

• Sense 1 is sometimes used in reference to apregnant female, possibly as a shortened form ofmother-to-be.

FromEnglishmama orFrenchmaman.

mama

1. mother

   Synonym:naha

   Coordinate term:papa

Loaned fromFrenchmaman^[1]

• Audio:

  (file)

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

mama f (pluralmama's,diminutivemamaatje 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)

Inherited fromOld Galician-Portuguesemama, fromLatinmamma.

mama f (pluralmamas)

1. (anatomy)mamma,breast

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

mama

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

Likely fromBengaliমামা(mama)

mama

1. maternal uncle
2. husband ofaunt
3. father-in-law
4. brother offather-in-law

• mamagipa(formal)
• mamatang(formal)

FromPortuguesemama. Cognate withKabuverdianumama.

mama

1. bosom
2. breast of a woman

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

mā̀ma f (possessed formmā̀mar̃)

1. mother

   Synonym:uwa

mā̀ma m (possessed formmā̀man)

1. breast

   Synonym:nono

Inherited fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*mamaq.

IPA^(key):/ˈma.ma/,[ˈmɐ.mə]

mama

1. tochew,masticate (but not swallow)

• Pukui, Mary Kawena, Elbert, Samuel H. (1986) “mama”, inHawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press

• IPA^(key):[ˈmɒmɒ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation:ma‧ma
• Rhymes:-mɒ

mama (pluralmamák)

1. mom,mum

   Synonyms:anya,anyu,édesanya,anyuka,anyuci

   Coordinate term:papa

2. (dialectal)grandmom

• mama 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.

Borrowed from Englishmama, Frenchmaman, GermanMama, Italianmamma, Russianма́ма(máma), Spanishmamá.

• IPA^(key):/ˈmama/

mama (pluralmamai)

1. mama,mom,mommy,mum

   Synonym:matro

   Coordinate terms:papa,patro

• IPA^(key):/maˈma/ [mɐˈma]
• Hyphenation:ma‧ma

mamá (Kur-itan spellingᜋᜋ)

1. momma(abetel nut plus other ingredients to be chewed on)

   Maiparit ti agtupra timama.

   Spitting ofmomma is not allowed.

• (Standard Indonesian)IPA^(key):/ˈmama/[ˈma.ma]
• Rhymes:-ama
• Syllabification:ma‧ma

Originally from baby talk.

mama (pluralmama-mama)

1. mother(female parent)

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

• mamah

Learned borrowing fromLatinmamma, fromAncient Greekμάμμη(mámmē).

mama (pluralmama-mama)

1. (medicine)mamma,breast,udder(the milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals)

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

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

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

Borrowed fromRussianмама(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”)

• Fedor Tumansky (1790) “мама”, inОпытъ повѣствованїя о дѣянїях, положенїи, состоянїи и раздѣленїи Санкт-Петербургской губернїи [An experiment of an account of the acts, location, condition and division of the Saint Petersburg gubernia],Краткїй словарь ижерскаго, финскаго, эстонскаго, чюдскаго, и ямскаго нарѣчїя съ россїйскимъ переводомъ [A short dictionary of the Ingrian, Finnish, Estonian, Chud and Yamtian dialects with a Russian translation], page699
• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971)Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page295

FromLatinmamma.

mama m (genitive singularmama,nominative pluralmamaí)

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

   Synonym:faireog mhamach

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “mama”, inFoclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm,→ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “mama”, ineDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• “mama”, inNew English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge,2013–2025

FromLatinmamma.

mama f

1. mom,mamma,mother

• mare

mama

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

FromPortuguesemama.

mama

1. bosom
2. breast of a woman

mama

1. you

• IPA^(key):[ˈmaːma]

mama

1. tochewbetel

mama

1. tomother

• Allahverdi Verdizade (2019) “mama”, inLamboya word list‎^[1], Leiden: LexiRumah

FromProto-Balto-Slavic*mā́ˀmāˀ. Cognates includeLatvianmama andLithuanianmama.

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

mama f (diminutivemameņa)

1. (colloquial)mum,mummy

• (more formal)muote

• tēte(“dad”)

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

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

Cognate withProto-Slavic*mama,GermanMuhme(“aunt”),Latinmamma(“mother, nurse”),Irishmam(“mother”) among others.

mamà f (pluralmãmos)stress pattern 4

1. mother

• mamýtė,mamẽlė(diminutive)

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

Cognate withGermanMuhme(“aunt”),Latinmamma(“mother, nurse”),Irishmam(“mother”),Lithuanianmama,moma(“mother”) among others. Cf.Proto-Slavic*tata,*baba.

• IPA^(key):[ˈmama]

mama f (diminutivemaminka)

1. mother,mom

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

Fromma- andama.

mama

1. male

mama

1. amale

Fromma- +‎ama.

mama

1. male(clarification of this definition is needed)

mama

1. amale

• 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.

FromFrenchmaman.

mama

1. mother

FromHindiमामा(māmā) andMarathiमामा(māmā).

mama

1. uncle

   Synonyms:chacha,tonton

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

Possibly derived fromMiddle High Germanmuome, fromOld High Germanmuoma, fromProto-West Germanic*mōmā(“mama, mother”), fromProto-Germanic*mōmǭ(“mama, mother; aunt, auntie”). Cognate withGermanMama,Englishmama.

mama f

1. mother

• “mama” inCimbrian, 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. mother

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

Inherited fromLatinmamma.

mama f (pluralmamas)

1. breast
2. teat;udder

• Galician:mama
• Portuguese:mama

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

mama

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

• Antônio Geraldo da Cunha (2020–2025) “mama”, inVocabulário histórico-cronológico do Português Medieval (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro:Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*màma. First attested in the fifteenth century.

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

mama f

1. (attested inMasovia)mom,mother
   • 1950 [1470], Władysław Kuraszkiewicz, Adam Wolff, editors,Zapiski i roty polskie XV-XVI wieku z ksiąg sądowych ziemi warszawskiej, number1308,Warsaw:

     Yakom ya Malgorzacze,mamye mey, nye szabral dwu szuknyv

     [Jakom ja Małgorzacie,mamie mej, nie zabrał dwu sukniu]

2. wet nurse,nurse
   • Middle of the 15th century,Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎^[2], page12:

     Nye tako, yako ynne panny czynyv, yze schvkaya ynych opczychmam (non ut solent homines extraneam quaesivit nutricem mater puero), alye swe dzyeczatko svymy pyrszyamy karmyla (sc. Anna)

     [Nie tako, jako inne panny czynią, iże szukają inych obcychmam (non ut solent homines extraneam quaesivit nutricem mater puero), ale swe dzieciątko swymi pirsiami karmiła (sc. Anna)]

• Polish:mama
• Silesian:mama

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “mama”, inSłownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie,→ISBN
• Mańczak, Witold (2017) “mama”, inPolski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności,→ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “mama”, inEtymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• 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), “mama”, inSłownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków:IJP PAN,→ISBN

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*mama.

mama f

1. mom,mother

• Slovak:mama

• Majtán, Milan et al., editors (1991–2008), “mama”, inHistorický slovník slovenského jazyka [Historical Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volumes 1–7 (A – Ž), Bratislava: VEDA,→OCLC

mama

1. genitive/dativesingular ofahaṃ(“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.

FromDutchmama.

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 fromOld Polishmama.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ama
• Syllabification:ma‧ma

mama f (diminutive(dialectal)mamula)

1. mum,mom,mother
2. (Middle Polish)wetnurse

   Synonym:mamka

3. (Middle Polish)nurse,caregiver

   Synonym:piastunka

According toSłownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990),mama is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 0 times in scientific texts, 0 times in news, 1 time in essays, 17 times in fiction, and 93 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 111 times, making it the 552nd most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.^[1]

• mama inWielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• mama in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “mama”, inSłownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• Magdalena Majdak (19.02.2015) “MAMA”, inElektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “mama”, inSłownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “mama”, inSłownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz,A. Kryński,W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “mama”, inSłownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page868
• mama in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

• mamma(pre-standardization spelling)

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

Inherited fromOld Galician-Portuguesemama, fromLatinmamma. CompareGalicianmama.

mama f (pluralmamas)

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

mama

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

• IPA^(key):/ˈma.ma/

mama

1. mother

   Coordinate terms:yaya,tayta,tata(“father”)

2. madam,lady

   Synonym:wayru

   Coordinate terms:tayta,tata(“mister”)

3. (geology)vein
4. (mathematics)matrix

• ayllu

Inherited fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*mamaq.

mama

1. tochew

mama

1. definitenominative/accusativesingular ofmamă

FromProto-Bantu*mààmá.

māmá class1a (pluralbāmâmá class2a)

1. mymother
2. mymaternalaunt

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

FromLatinmamma, fromAncient Greekμάμμη(mámmē).

• IPA^(key):/ˈmama/

mama f (pluralmamas)(Limba Sarda Comuna)

1. mother

• babbu
• tzia

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

mȁma f (Cyrillic spellingма̏ма)

1. mom

Inherited fromOld Polishmama.

• IPA^(key):/ˈma.ma/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ama
• Syllabification:ma‧ma

mama f

1. (colloquial)mom,mother

   Synonyms:seeThesaurus:muter

   Coordinate terms:seeThesaurus:fater

• mama in dykcjonorz.eu
• mama in silling.org

Inherited fromOld Slovakmama, fromProto-Slavic*mama, fromProto-Balto-Slavic*mā́ˀmāˀ, fromProto-Indo-European*méh₂-méh₂, a reduplication of*méh₂- - the root of*méh₂tēr(“mother”).

• IPA^(key):[ˈmama]

mama f (genitivesingularmamy,nominativepluralmamy,genitivepluralmám,declension pattern ofžena)

1. mama