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English
Etymology 1
Learned borrowing from Latin mamma.
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma (plural mammae or mammas)
- (anatomy, plural mammae) The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder.
1880, Herbert Spencer, The Study of Sociology, page 434:Either sex under special stimulations is capable of manifesting powers ordinarily shown only by the other […] Thus, to take an extreme case, the mammæ of men will, under special excitation, yield milk: there are various cases of gynecomasty on record, and in famines infants whose mothers have died have been thus saved.
- (meteorology) An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera.
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
Alternative spelling of mama; see further etymology there.
Noun
mamma (plural mammas)
- Alternative spelling of mama: mother.
- 1856, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter XI, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
- The next day Charles had the child brought back. She asked for her mamma. They told her she was away; that she would bring her back some playthings.
Further reading
- “mamma”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Alemannic German
Noun
mamma f
- (Gressoney) mom, mama
References
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Noun
mamma f (plural mamma's, diminutive mammaatje n)
- Alternative form of mama
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Latin mamma.
Noun
mamma f (plural mamma's or mammae)
- mamma, breast
- Synonym: borst
Usage notes
Most people will use this word as an alternative spelling of mama (“mother”).
Faroese
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma f (genitive singular mammu, plural mammur)
- mom, mum (colloquial word for mother)
- Synonym: móðir
Hvar er mamma mín?- Where is my mommy?
Declension
Finnish
Etymology
From Swedish mamma.
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma
- (dialectal) mama
- Synonym: äiti
- (colloquial) An elder, plump woman.
- Synonym: tantta
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
Gilbertese
Noun
mamma (plural mamma)
- mammary gland
- mummy; mom; mum
Verb
mamma
- to suck the breast
Icelandic
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma f (genitive singular mömmu, nominative plural mömmur)
- mom, mum (colloquial word for mother)
- Synonym: móðir
Hvar er mamma mín?- Where is my mommy?
Declension
Further reading
Interlingua
Noun
mamma (plural mammas)
- mamma
Italian
Etymology
From Latin mamma.
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma f (plural mamme)
- mom (US), mommy (US), mum (UK), mummy (UK)
- mother
- type of artichoke
Synonyms
Derived terms
Further reading
- mamma in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
Latin
Etymology
Uncertain. Either a native childish term of onomatopoeic origin, or borrowed from Ancient Greek μάμμη (mámmē).
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma f (genitive mammae); first declension
- (anatomy) breast
Puero isti date mammam.- Give that boy of yours your breast .
- (anatomy) udder; pap
- (anatomy, of animals) teat, dug
- mammam sugere ― to suck on a breast
- (childish) mama (mother)
Cum cibum ac potionem buas ac papas vocent, matrem mammam, patrem tatam.- Since children call food and drink bua and papa, mother mamma and father tata.
- (by extension) a protuberance on tree bark
Usage notes
- This term was used especially of females, but also of males – although rarely:
Mammas homo solus e maribus habet.- Among male animals, man alone has breasts.
Declension
First-declension noun.
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “mamma”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “mamma”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- mamma in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- mamma in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- “mamma”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
Latvian
Noun
mamma f (4th declension)
- mum
- mother
Declension
Declension of mamma (4th declension)
Further reading
Norwegian Bokmål
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma m (definite singular mammaen, indefinite plural mammaer, definite plural mammaene)
- mother
- Synonym: mor
See also
References
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma f (definite singular mammaa, indefinite plural mammaer, definite plural mammaene)
- mother
- Synonym: mor
See also
References
Pali
Noun
mamma n
- a vital spot of the body
- nerve center
Declension
Declension table of "mamma" (neuter)
Romansch
Etymology
From Latin mamma.
Noun
mamma f (plural mammas)
- mother
Coordinate terms
- (with regards to gender): bab
- (with regards to ancestry): figl, figlia
Swedish
Pronunciation
Noun
mamma c
- mom (US), mommy (US), mama (US), mum (UK), mummy (UK)
- Synonyms: mor, moder, (slang) morsa, (definite, colloquial) mamsen
- Antonym: pappa
Han älskar sin mamma.- He loves his mom.
Usage notes
The most common and neutral word for mother.
Declension
Derived terms
References