Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗Often preceded by oh: used to express approval, joy, surprise, etc.
Synonym of mother (“a female parent”). · Synonym of mother (“an origin, a source”). · Used preceding a name as a title for a mother. · A lesbian partner.
Synonym of mother (“to treat (someone) as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture”). · To call (someone) "mama" (noun sense). · To call out "mama".
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.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 5 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
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{
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{
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"args": {
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"expansion": "reduplication"
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{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frm",
"2": "maman",
"t": "mother"
},
"expansion": "Middle French maman (“mother”)"
},
{
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"2": "maman"
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"expansion": "French maman"
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"expansion": "Latin mamma (“breast; nurse; (childish) mother, mama; grandmother”)"
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"t": "breast; (childish) mother, mama; (Koine) grandmother"
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"expansion": "Ancient Greek μᾰ́μμη (mắmmē, “breast; (childish) mother, mama; (Koine) grandmother”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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"1": "ine-pro",
"2": "*meh₂-",
"t": "to nurse; mama, mother"
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"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *meh₂- (“to nurse; mama, mother”)"
},
{
"name": "lg",
"args": {
"1": "onomatopoeia"
},
"expansion": "onomatopoeia"
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{
"name": "onomatopoeic",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"title": "onomatopoeias"
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"expansion": "onomatopoeias"
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{
"name": "sup",
"args": {
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"expansion": "¹"
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{
"name": "senseno",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "address for woman",
"uc": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology 1, noun sense 3"
},
{
"name": "noncog",
"args": {
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"expansion": "Akan mmá"
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{
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"expansion": "interjection"
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{
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[
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[
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[
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{
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"Often preceded by oh: used to express approval, joy, surprise, etc."
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"Synonym of mother (“a female parent”).",
"Synonym of mother (“an origin, a source”).",
"Used preceding a name as a title for a mother.",
"A lesbian partner."
],
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"glosses": [
"Synonym of mother (“to treat (someone) as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture”).",
"To call (someone) \"mama\" (noun sense).",
"To call out \"mama\"."
],
"tags": [
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"transitive",
"uncommon",
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"rare",
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