The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is probably a reduplication of ma, thought to be a sound made by babies when breastfeeding. The word is possibly influenced by Middle French maman (“mother”) (modern French maman), mamme (both probably from Latin mamma (“breast; nurse; (childish) mother, mama; grandmother”), probably cognate with Ancient Greek μᾰ́μμη (mắmmē, “breast; (childish) mother, mama; (Koine) grandmother”), both possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- (“to nurse; mama, mother”)), but this is also uncertain as all the words could have developed independently as onomatopoeias.
Etymology 1, noun sense 3 (“(Caribbean) used as a term of address for a woman”) is possibly partly from a West African language; compare Akan mmá, mmaa (“woman”).
The interjection and verb are derived from the noun.
Meanings
(Caribbean, US) Often preceded by oh: used to express approval, joy, surprise, etc.
He scribbled a name and address on the back of his business card and handed it to Betty. "Only one show, kid, but it draws real good. Sunday vaudeville is the best showcase in town." Betty could scarcely breathe. It was like seven spotlights converging deep inside her into a searing hot nucleus. The Winter Garden! Oh, Mama! 1960, Rowland Barber, “Mlle. Fifi from Paris, France”, in The Night They Raided Minsky’s: A Fanciful Expedition to the Lost Atlantis of Show Business, New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 130:
He do n't do a thing in the world except travel around with some more o' them handy boys and lay for jack-pots. And the talk he gives you! Mamma! He 's better 'n any o' them shell-workers that used to graft out at the gover'ment pier. 1896, George Ade, chapter XII, in Artie: A Story of the Streets and Town, 2nd edition, Chicago, Ill.: Herbert S. Stone & Co., published 10 October 1896, →OCLC, page 109:
The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is probably a reduplication of ma, thought to be a sound made by babies when breastfeeding. The word is possibly influenced by Middle French maman (“mother”) (modern French maman), mamme (both probably from Latin mamma (“breast; nurse; (childish) mother, mama; grandmother”), probably cognate with Ancient Greek μᾰ́μμη (mắmmē, “breast; (childish) mother, mama; (Koine) grandmother”), both possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- (“to nurse; mama, mother”)), but this is also uncertain as all the words could have developed independently as onomatopoeias.
Etymology 1, noun sense 3 (“(Caribbean) used as a term of address for a woman”) is possibly partly from a West African language; compare Akan mmá, mmaa (“woman”).
The interjection and verb are derived from the noun.
Meanings
(Canada, US, childish, often) Synonym of mother (“a female parent”).
"Mama!" cried the child sobbing aloud. "Oh dear Mama! oh dear Mama!" 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Dombey and Son”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 8:
The Ideas of the Nurſe, and the Mother, are vvell framed in their Minds; and, like Pictures of them there, repreſent only thoſe Individuals. The Names they firſt give to them, are confined to theſe Individuals; and the names of Nurſe, and Mamma, the Child uſes, determine themſelves to thoſe Perſons. 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of General Terms”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book III, § 7, page 191:
If he keep out of the vvay, my Papa and Mama may in time relent, and vve may be happy.—If he ſtays, he is hang'd, and then he is loſt for ever! 1728, [John] Gay, The Beggar’s Opera. […], London: […] John Watts, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene xii, page 16:
This begets Scorn, hovv can one stand in avve, / Of a vain Tavvdry, Amorous Mamma. 1691, Tho[mas] Shadwell, “Epilogue”, in The Scowrers. A Comedy, […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC:
Charles […] respected his mother, and he loved his wife infinitely; he considered the judgment of the one infallible, and yet he thought the conduct of the other irreproachable. When Madame Bovary had gone, he tried timidly and in the same terms to hazard one or two of the more anodyne observations he had heard from his mamma. Emma proved to him with a word that he was mistaken, and sent him off to his patients. 1886, Gustave Flaubert, chapter VII, in Eleanor Marx-Aveling, transl., Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners […], London: Vizetelly & Co., […], →OCLC, part I, page 47:
I can't but say that his mamma was right, / If such an education was the true one. 1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto I, stanza XLVIII, page 27:
Silly Mamma, of course you should have your hair done like other Mammas. a. 1984 (date written), Rebecca West [pseudonym; Cicily Isabel Fairfield], chapter I, in This Real Night, London; Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan London, published 1984, →ISBN, part 1, page 10:
All the flowers that you planted, mama, in the backyard / All died when you went away 1990 January 8, Prince Rogers Nelson, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, in I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, performed by Sinéad O’Connor, London: Chrysalis Records, →OCLC:
[S]hée is admoniſhed of nature, yea commaunded of dutie, to cheriſhe hir owne childe, with hir owne teates, otherwiſe when the babe ſhall nowe beginne to tattle and call hir Mamma, with what force canne ſhe heare it of his mouth vnto whome ſhée hath denyed Mamma? [1578], Iohn Lylly [i.e., John Lyly], “Of the Education of Youth”, in Euphues. The Anatomy of Wyt. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 51, recto:
[T]he cameo cutters were also skilful in mortal portraiture, and papa and mamma, still expectant of my future greatness, resolved to have me carved in cameo. 1887, John Ruskin, “Cumæ”, in Præterita. Outlines of Scenes and Thoughts Perhaps Worthy of Memory in My Past Life, volume II, Orpington, Kent: George Allen, →OCLC, pages 71–72:
Alack, mama, it vvas all your ovvn fault. You vvould be for running avvay by night, vvithout knovving one inch of the vvay. 1773, [Oliver] Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer: Or, The Mistakes of a Night. A Comedy. […], London: […] F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, Act V, page 102:
I love the cookies which mama bakes me every week.
(Canada, US, childish, figuratively, often) Synonym of mother (“a female parent”). ▸ Synonym of mother (“an origin, a source”).
The exhibition of the New Society of Water-Colour Painters has grown to be quite as handsome and agreeable as that of its mamma, the old Society in Pall Mall East. 1844 June, Michael Angelo Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “[Critical Reviews of Books and Pictures.] May Gambols; or, Titmarsh in the Picture Galleries.”, in Miscellaneous Essays, Sketches and Reviews (The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray; XXV), London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1885, →OCLC, page 256:
(Canada, US, childish, obsolete, often) Synonym of mother (“a female parent”). ▸ Used preceding a name as a title for a mother.
That they should spend their Christmas at Merle Park was an acknowledged thing;—to mamma Tringle an acknowledged benefit, because she liked to have her daughter with her; to papa Tringle an acknowledged evil, because he could not endure to be made to give more than he intended to give. 1878 April 25 – September 24 (date written), Anthony Trollope, “Lady Albury’s Letter”, in Ayala’s Angel […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall […], published 1881, →OCLC, page 59:
(qualifier:LGBTQ slang) A lesbian partner.
(Caribbean, informal, qualifier:US (originally African-American Vernacular)) Used as a (respectful) term of address for a woman, especially an older one.
About a.d. 1150 Mango Capac and Mama Oella, his sister-wife [Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo], appeared by the Lake Titicaca. 1799, Robert Southey, “[Ideas and Studies for Literary Composition.] Mango Capac”, in John Wood Warter, editor, Southey’s Common-place Book. Fourth Series. Original Memoranda, etc. […], London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, published 1850, →OCLC, page 4, column 1:
(qualifier:chiefly US (originally African-American Vernacular), slang) A girlfriend.
[W]hat would I do supposing the Jane on whom I had always looked as a steady mamma had handed me the old skimmer and told me to take all the air I needed because she had gotten another sweetie? 1927 April 9, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “The Story of William”, in Meet Mr. Mulliner, London: Herbert Jenkins […], published 27 September 1927, →OCLC, page 179:
(qualifier:chiefly US (originally African-American Vernacular), slang) A wife.
I need to talk to mama before I buy the car.
(qualifier:chiefly US (originally African-American Vernacular), slang) A woman regarded as sexually attractive or (derogatory) promiscuous.
The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is probably a reduplication of ma, thought to be a sound made by babies when breastfeeding. The word is possibly influenced by Middle French maman (“mother”) (modern French maman), mamme (both probably from Latin mamma (“breast; nurse; (childish) mother, mama; grandmother”), probably cognate with Ancient Greek μᾰ́μμη (mắmmē, “breast; (childish) mother, mama; (Koine) grandmother”), both possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- (“to nurse; mama, mother”)), but this is also uncertain as all the words could have developed independently as onomatopoeias.
Etymology 1, noun sense 3 (“(Caribbean) used as a term of address for a woman”) is possibly partly from a West African language; compare Akan mmá, mmaa (“woman”).
The interjection and verb are derived from the noun.
Meanings
(informal, transitive, uncommon) Synonym of mother (“to treat (someone) as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture”).
I've been pretty out of the loop—immersed in my small world of day-to-day living, working and baby-mammaing. 2007 September, Chris(tine) [pseudonym], “Columns”, in Maximum Rocknroll, number 292, San Francisco, Calif.: Maximum Rocknroll, →ISSN, →OCLC, column 3:
What shall be the effeminating effect upon the rising generation if the brave men of today are to be mammaed by a crew of timid Supervisors? 1905 May 7, “The Lancer”, in Los Angeles Sunday Times, volume 47, number 155, Los Angeles, Calif.: The Times-Mirror Company, →OCLC, part II, page 5, column 2:
And that's how come Lyniece to volunteer as mama to Son's children. That and desperation to get out of the woods and away from her daddy. She'd like to say that her reason was solely for the purpose of mamaing Son's children, but that would be a lie. She'd raised them well enough with what she had to raise them with—sent them to school, clean and neat and fed, till they got grown. But never really mamaed them. 2003, Janice Daugharty, “You’re No Angel Yourself”, in Hugh Ruppersburg, editor, After O’Connor: Stories from Contemporary Georgia, Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, →ISBN, page 59:
Had Maude deduced that if Cliffie could smoke she was grown and on her own, that she no longer needed mamaing? 1995, Janice Daugharty, chapter 2, in Necessary Lies […], New York, N.Y.: HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN, page 40:
Priſc[illa] vvill Mamma-up Mrs. Sinclair, and vvill undertake to court her guardian to let her paſs a delightful vveek vvith her. 1749 June 26 (Gregorian calendar), [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LXIV. Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], 2nd edition, volume III, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 320:
(informal, intransitive, uncommon) To call out "mama".
[W]hen the next Sunday two and the third Sunday four babies cooed and mammaed and howled in chorus it was more than he could stand. 1905 December 6, “Humor: Babies and the parson: How his scheme for keeping them quiet was spoiled”, in The Evening Examiner, volume XXXIX, number 132, Peterborough, Ont.: [The Peterborough Examiner], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9, column 4:
They passed a newspaper back and forth among themselves. The item that each solid and blunt forefinger pointed out was an advertisement headed "One Hundred Dollars Reward." To earn it one must return the rag-doll lost, strayed, or stolen from the Millionaire's mansion. It seemed that grief still ravaged, unchecked, in the bosom of the too faithful Child. […] She wailed for her Betsy in the faces of walking, talking, mama-ing, and eye-closing French Mabelles and Violettes. The advertisement was a last resort. 1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Compliments of the Season”, in Strictly Business: More Stories of the Four Million, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 199:
Borrowed from Xhosa umama and Zulu umama, sometimes only distinguishable from English mama (see etymology 1) by the context and pronunciation.
Meanings
(South-Africa, informal, uncommon) Synonym of mother (“a female parent”).
(South-Africa, familiar, informal, often, uncommon) Synonym of mother (“a female parent”). ▸ Used as a (respectful) term of address for one's mother.
We had gone to his house on our way to school, as usual, when we learnt of his arrest. His mother said they'd been worken up about three a.m. by the police who took him away. […] 'Did they say when he'll be back, Mama?' I asked. 'No, my child,' his mother said. 1982, Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane, “Book One: My Schooldays in Soweto”, in The Children of Soweto: A Trilogy, Harlow, Essex: Longman, published 1992, →ISBN, page 41:
(South-Africa, informal, uncommon) A middle-aged black woman.
And the old mealie mamas who used to go past in the street with big bulging sacks on their heads, calling "Meeeeealies!" 1989, Jenny Hobbs, chapter 17, in Thoughts in a Makeshift Mortuary, London; Glasgow: Grafton Books, published 1990, →ISBN, page 9:
(South-Africa, familiar, informal, often, uncommon) A middle-aged black woman. ▸ Often in the form Mama: used as a (respectful) term of address for an adult woman.
She came over now, sweating and smiling amiably, to wipe the table with a filthy cloth. 'How are you today, Mr Doctor?' […] 'I'm good, Mama. How about you?' […] When she'd gone he asked, 'Why do you call her Mama?' […] 'I don't know. It's a term of affection or something. Respect. I don't know.' 2003, Damon Galgut, chapter 4, in The Good Doctor, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 9 January 2004, →ISBN, page 39:
She [Miriam Makeba] was 76 when she died, with Nelson Mandela (who had eventually persuaded Makeba, a long-time campaigner for his freedom, to return to post-apartheid South Africa) leading the tributes to an artist now revered as ‘Mama Africa’. 2019 September 11, Arwa Haider, “Pata Pata: The World’s Most Defiantly Joyful Song?”, in BBC, archived from the original on 27 Jun 2024: