mama

noun

ma·​ma ˈmä-mə How to pronounce mama (audio)
chiefly British mə-ˈmä
variants or less commonly mamma or momma
Synonyms of mamanext
1
: mother
2
slang : wife, woman

Examples of mama in a Sentence

I'm not your mama—you'll have to clean up after yourself.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Their answer came in the form of Colby Donaldson, the Texan mama’s boy who performed rugged gentlemanliness. Shaan Merchant, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2026 Was Yara going to be mama-birded into eating more wet bread? Literary Hub, 19 May 2026 From there, everyone rows imua (forward), keeping eyes peeled for sea turtles, sea urchin, and on a really good day in January or February, a mama whale and her baby. Laura Dannen Redman, Robb Report, 14 May 2026 Interestingly, the Chaney Trail Corridor Project documented a mama bear and three cubs walking through the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains near Altadena in early May. Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for mama

Word History

Etymology

baby talk

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mama was in 1579

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mama.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mama. Accessed 21 May. 2026.

Kids Definition

mama

noun
ma·​ma
variants also mamma or momma
ˈmäm-ə

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