mama

• mamma, momma, mumma

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”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /məˈmɑː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈmɐmə/
• Rhymes: (General American) -ɑːmə, (UK) -ɑː, (AU) -ʌmə, -ʌmə(ɹ)

mama (plural mamas)

1. (hypocoristic, usually childish, Canada, US) Mother, female parent.
   • 1990, Prince, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, performed by Sinéad O’Connor:

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

• amma, ma'am

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

mama

1. to chew (tobacco, betel)

mama

1. father

From the prefix ma- and ama.

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).

   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.

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *mààmá.

mama

1. mother

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.

mama

1. A mother.

   Synonym: babu

From Latin mamma.

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

mama f (plural mames)

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

• càncer de mama (“breast cancer”)

• “mama”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “mama”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “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.

mama

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

Possibly from Spanish mamá. Compare Tagalog mama, Central Bikol mama.

• 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

   Synonyms: ina, inahan, nanay

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

• Sense 1 is sometimes used in reference to a pregnant female, possibly as a shortened form of mother-to-be.

Possibly from Spanish mamá. Compare Tagalog mama, Cebuano mama.

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

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/ [maˈmaʔ]

mamâ

1. betel nut

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)

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese mama, from Latin mamma.

mama f (plural mamas)

1. (anatomy) mamma, breast

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

mama

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

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

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mamaq.

IPA^(key): /ˈma.ma/, [ˈmɐ.mə]

mama

1. to chew, masticate (but not swallow)

• Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel H. (1986), “mama”, in Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN

• 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 Géza 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 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): /maˈma/ [mɐˈma]
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

mamá (Kur-itan spelling ᜋᜋ)

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

   Maiparit ti agtupra ti mama.

   Spitting of momma is not allowed.

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

Originally from baby talk.

mama (plural mama-mama)

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)

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”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Borrowed from Russian мама (mama).

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑmɑ/, [ˈmɑmɑˑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑmɑ/, [ˈmɑmɑˑ]
• 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.

Declension of mama (type 3/kana, no gradation, gemination)
	singular	plural
nominative	mama	mamat
genitive	maman	mammoin
partitive	mammaa	mamoja
illative	mammaa	mammoi
inessive	mamas	mamois
elative	mamast	mamoist
allative	mamalle	mamoille
adessive	mamal	mamoil
ablative	mamalt	mamoilt
translative	mamaks	mamoiks
essive	mamanna, mammaan	mamoinna, mammoin
exessive1)	mamant	mamoint
1) obsolete *) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl) **) the comitative is formed by adding the suffix -ka? or -kä? to the genitive.

• papa (“dad; papa”)

• Fedor Tumansky (1790), “мама”, in Опытъ 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], page 699
• 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
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “mama”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• “mama”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026

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^[2], Leiden: LexiRumah

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *mā́ˀmāˀ. Cognates include Latvian mama and Lithuanian mama.

• 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

Borrowed from Bangi mama.

mama

1. mother, mom

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

From ma- +‎ 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), Diksiyoner kreol morisyeṅ [Mauritian Creole Dictionary] (in French and English), Paris: L'Harmattan, →ISBN

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. mother

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

Inherited from Latin mamma.

mama f (plural mamas)

1. breast
2. teat; udder

• Galician: mama
• Portuguese: mama

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

mama

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

• Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2020–2026), “mama”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do português medieval [Historical and chronological vocabulary of Medieval Portuguese] (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

Inherited from Proto-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 in Masovia) mom, mother
   • 1950 [1470], Władysław Kuraszkiewicz, Adam Wolff, editors, Zapiski i roty polskie XV-XVI wieku z ksiąg sądowych ziemi warszawskiej, number 1308, 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^[3], page 12:

     Nye tako, yako ynne panny czynyv, yze schvkaya ynych opczych mam (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 obcych mam (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”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Mańczak, Witold (2017), “mama”, in Polski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000), “mama”, in Etymologiczny 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”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mama.

mama f

1. mom, mother

• Slovak: mama

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

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

• nana (Near Masovian, Łuków County, Western Lublin, Gmina Serniki, Kuyavia)

Inherited from Old Polish mama.

• 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 to Słownik 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 in Wielki 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”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• Magdalena Majdak (19.02.2015), “MAMA”, in Elektroniczny 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”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “mama”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “mama”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 868
• mama in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

• mamma (pre-standardization spelling)

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

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

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese mama, from Latin mamma. Compare Galician mama.

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”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “mama”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• 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 from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mamaq.

mama

1. to chew

mama

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of mamă

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *mààmá.

māmá class 1a (plural bāmâmá class 2a)

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/

mama f (plural mamas) (Limba Sarda Comuna)

1. mother

• babbu
• tzia

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

mȁma f (Cyrillic spelling ма̏ма)

1. mom

Inherited from Old Polish mama.

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.ma/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: ma‧ma

mama f

1. (colloquial) mom, mother

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:muter

   Coordinate terms: see Thesaurus:fater

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

Inherited from Old Slovak mama, from Proto-Slavic *mama, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *mā́ˀmāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂-méh₂, a reduplication of *méh₂- - the root of *méh₂tēr (“mother”).

• IPA^(key): /mama/, [ˈmama]
• Rhymes: -ama
• Hyphenation: ma‧ma

mama f (genitive singular mamy, nominative plural mamy, genitive plural mám, declension pattern of žena)

1. mama

• “mama”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

From Latin mamma.

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

mama f (plural mamas)

1. (anatomy) mamma, breast

   Synonyms: pecho, seno

mama

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

• “mama”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

• m'ma
• mma

• IPA^(key): /mːa/, [mːa̠], [mːɑ̟]
• IPA^(key): /maˈma/, [ma̠ˈma̠], [mɑ̟ˈmɑ̟]

mama

1. mother
2. (figuratively, in compounds) origin, source, centre, basis

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

mama class IX (plural mama class X)

1. mother (female parent)

   Coordinate term: baba

2. Respectful term of address for an older woman.

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

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmamaʔ/ [ˈmaː.mɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -amaʔ
• Syllabification: ma‧ma

mamà (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜋ)

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

   Synonyms: mang, manong

   Itanong natin sa mama sa kanto.

   Let's ask the man at the street.

   Mamang Ano ― Mister What's-the-name

2. (archaic, familiar) uncle (parent's younger brother)
3. (archaic, familiar, childish) 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 / 妈妈 (mâ-mâ)
• /ˈmama/ from English mama / momma

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /maˈma/ [mɐˈma] (Spanish pronunciation)
    • Rhymes: -a
  • IPA^(key): /mama/ [ma.ma] (Hokkien pronunciation)
    • Rhymes: -ama
  • IPA^(key): /ˈmama/ [ˈmaː.mɐ] (English pronunciation)
    • Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: ma‧ma

mama or mamá (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜋ) (colloquial, familiar, childish)

1. mum, mom

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

   Coordinate term: papa

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 Central Bikol mama, Western Bukidnon Manobo mama', Tausug mama', Chamorro måma', Javanese ꦩꦩꦃ (mamah), and Malay mamah.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /maˈmaʔ/ [mɐˈmaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: ma‧ma

mamâ (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜋ)

1. betelnut chewing

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /maˈmaʔ/ [mɐˈmaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: ma‧ma

mamâ (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜋ) (obsolete)

1. name of the Baybayin letter ᜋ (ma), corresponding to "ma"

• ma

• “mama”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613), Vocabulario de lengua tagala. El romance castellano puesto primero. Primera, y segunda parte.‎^[4] (overall work in Early Modern Spanish and Classical Tagalog), as directed by Gov. Gen. Juan de Silva, Pila, Laguna: La noble Villa de Pila, por Tomás Pinpin y Domingo Loag.
  • page 173: “Comer) Mama (pc) buyo”
  • page 400: “M) Mama (pc) letra del .A.b.c. Tagalog .|. mama yaon .|. ᜋ . ſumulat ca nang mama nang iniõg ſulat, eſcriue la. M. de bueſtra eſcritura, yſulat mo aco nang mama, eſcriueme vna .M.”
  • page 575: “Tio) Mama (pp) llamandole el ſobrino y como en Eſpañol vſamos llamar tio al hias viejo, tambien lo vſan eſtos y diçen, mama ay, ola tio, yaring ſi mama a, eſte mi tio.”

• amam

mama

1. to chew betel

From English mama.

mama

1. mother

   Antonym: papa

   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:20:

     Man i kolim meri bilong em Iv, long wanem, em i tumbuna mama bilong olgeta manmeri.

     →New International Version translation

• mama karim

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *máá.

mama class 1a (plural ŵamama class 2)

1. mother, mom

• dada

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

mama (definite accusative mamayı, plural mamalar)

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

• “mama”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu

• IPA^(key): [maːma]

mama

1. maternal grandmother
2. term of address for old women

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

mama

1. smallpox

   Synonym: jäjek

• “mama” in Enedilim.com
• “mama” in Webonary.org

• IPA^(key): /ˈmama/

mama f (diminutive mamička or mamimka)

1. mama, mommy, mum

• “mama”, in Mudra corpus [Upper Sorbian–Czech dictionary] (in Czech), 2024–2026
• “mama” in Soblex

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), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[5], Pacific linguistics

• maama (Caura River dialect)

• IPA^(key): [mama]

mama

1. (Cunucunuma River dialect) first-person possessed form of nü

• mọ̀mọ́

Probably influenced by English mama, may have existed before contact with English though. Possibly a corruption of mọ̀mọ́.

• 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