Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

mam en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /mæm/ (Northumbria)

Etymology

Alteration or clipping of mama. Compare Scots mam, Early Scots mame (“mother”), mamye (“wet nurse”), Saterland Frisian Määme (“mother”), West Frisian mem (“mother”). Alternatively, possibly either conserved from or influenced by earlier Brythonic language.

Meanings

  1. (Ireland, UK, colloquial, informal, regional) Mum, mom; diminutive of mother.
    • She'd sit by the fire, arms crossed, demanding that Ruby spike her tea with a cinder. But Ruby would never give in to her demands, no matter how much her mam begged. There was no alcohol in the house now; Arthur had made sure of that in an effort to get Mary sober. 2021, Glenda Young, The Miner's Lass:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
mams Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

stepmam · mammy

Relateds

ma'am

Source: en.wiktionary, “mam” (noun), dump 20260902, contributors via the page history. Text licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

mam en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /mæm/ (Northumbria)

Etymology

From mammary.

Meanings

  1. (UK, in-plural, slang) A woman's breast.
    • There was another teacher […] who came to class fairly often wearing a thin silk blouse and NO BRA. Her 'mams' bounced appropriately, which was of course utterly FASCINATING for every boy in the class. 2002, David M. Burns, Quests, page 24:
    • She focused her entire mind on that moment she had shared with Shan, the softness of her mams, the wetness of her lips. 2022, Craig W. Stanfill, The Prophecy of the Heron:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
mams Number=Plur lexicographic
Source: en.wiktionary, “mam” (noun), dump 20260902, contributors via the page history. Text licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

mam en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

  • /mæm/ (Northumbria)

Meanings

  1. (India, alt-of, misspelling) Misspelling of ma'am.
    alt of ma'am