mama

noun

1. 1

   Synonym of mother (“a female parent”).

   I love the cookies which mama bakes me every week.

   [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?

   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.

   This begets Scorn, hovv can one stand in avve, / Of a vain Tavvdry, Amorous Mamma.

2. 2

   figurativeSynonym 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.

3. 3

   obsoleteSynonym 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.

4. 4

   A lesbian partner.

5. 5

   informalUsed 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.

6. 6

   slangA 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?

7. 7

   slangA wife.

   I need to talk to mama before I buy the car.

8. 8

   slangA woman regarded as sexually attractive or (derogatory) promiscuous.

   Whoa, that chick in the bikini is a real mama!

interjection

1. 1

   Often preceded by oh: used to express approval, joy, surprise, etc.

   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.

   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!

verb

1. 1

   informalSynonym of mother (“to treat (someone) as a mother would be expected to treat her child; to nurture”).

   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?

   Had Maude deduced that if Cliffie could smoke she was grown and on her own, that she no longer needed mamaing?

   I've been pretty out of the loop—immersed in my small world of day-to-day living, working and baby-mammaing.

2. 2

   informalTo call (someone) "mama" (noun sense).

   Priſc[illa] vvill Mamma-up Mrs. Sinclair, and vvill undertake to court her guardian to let her paſs a delightful vveek vvith her.

3. 3

   informalTo 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.

noun

1. 1

   informalSynonym of mother (“a female parent”).

2. 2

   informalSynonym 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.

3. 3

   informalA 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!"

4. 4

   informalA 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.'

   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’.

Forms

plural

mamas

past tense

mamaed

past participle

mamaed

present participle

mamaing

third person singular

mamas