баба

Bulgarian

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbabə/

Noun

баба (bába) f.

1. grandmother, grandma, granny, gran
2. old woman, goody, granny
3. mother-in-law (one’s wife’s mother)
4. midwife, wise woman
5. wise woman, sorceress, witch
6. woman, weakling, milksop, mollycoddle, molly, old maid
7. monkey

Inflection

inflection of баба

	singular	plural
indefinite	баба	баби
definite	бабата	бабите
vocative form	бабо	баби

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Macedonian

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbaba/

Noun

баба • (bába) f.

1. grandmother, grandma, granny, gran
2. old woman, goody, granny
3. mother-in-law (one’s wife’s mother)
4. midwife

Inflection

    inflection of баба

	singular	plural
indefinite	баба	баби
definite (unspecified)	бабата	бабите
definite (proximate)	бабава	бабиве
definite (distal)	бабана	бабине
vocative	бабо	баби

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Old Church Slavonic

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *baba.

Noun

баба (baba) f.

1. wet nurse

Descendants

Macedonian: баба

Russian: баба Serbo-Croatian: baba Slovene: baba

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Russian

Pronunciation

• IPA: /'babə/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

баба • (bába) f.

1. (disdainful) woman, countrywoman

   Все ба́бы — ду́ры; все мужики́ — сво́лочи — "Every woman is stupid, every man a bastard" (Russian folklore)

2. (childish) grandma, granny (short for бабушка)

   Мам, а где ба́ба? — Mom, where’s grandma?

3. (informal or archaic) old woman (short for бабушка)

   Жи́ли-бы́ли дед да ба́ба — There once lived an old man and his old woman.

4. (colloquial, slang, pejorative) woman, female, broad

   Кто э́та ба́ба? — Who's that broad?

5. (obsolete) peasant’s wife, peasant woman
6. (weak man) milksop, old woman
7. (technical) ram (of pile driver)
8. (technical) drop weight
9. (cooking) baba (tall, cylindrical cake), bundt cake, gugelhupf

   ро́мовая ба́ба — rum baba, rum cake

10. сне́жная ба́ба — snowman
11. ка́менная ба́ба — primitive stone statue

Declension

    declension of баба

	singular	plural
nominative	ба́ба	ба́бы
genitive	ба́бы	ба́б
dative	ба́бе	ба́бам
accusative	ба́бу	ба́б
instrumental	ба́бой, ба́бою	ба́бами
prepositional	ба́бе	ба́бах

Related terms

• бабушка, бабёнка
• Баба-Яга, Бабий Яр
• бабуся, бабка, бабник, бабство
• бабий, бабский

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *baba.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bâba/
• Hyphenation: ба‧ба

Noun

ба̏ба f. (Latin spelling bȁba)

1. grandmother
2. granny, grandma
3. (usually pejorative) old woman
4. (pejorative) female person

Declension

    declension of баба

	singular	plural
nominative	ба̏ба	бабе
genitive	бабе	ба̑ба̄
dative	баби	бабама
accusative	бабу	бабе
vocative	бабо	бабе
locative	баби	бабама
instrumental	бабом	бабама

Synonyms

• ба́ка
• (Bosnian): нена

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Ukrainian

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

баба • (bába) f.

1. grandmother, granny, old woman (in some cases maternal grandmother only).
2. name of a special, delicate ritual bread that is blessed by a priest at Easter (also called бабка, babka).
3. a name given to сніп (snip) at Christmas, a sheaf of grain (wheat or rye), brought into the home for Christmas Eve supper (sviatá vechéra), placed in a corner of the room and later fed to livestock or cattle.
4. a fortune teller or witch, practising the art of віск зливати (wax pouring).
5. sexy bitch (girlfriend or wife).