ayah

English

Etymology

From various Indian languages, after Portuguese aia (“nurse, governess”), feminine of aio (“tutor”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /aɪə/

Noun

ayah (plural ayahs)

1. A native female servant or maid, especially working for Europeans in South Asia.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘Watches of the Night’, Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio 2005, p. 59:

     She manufactured the Station scandal, and—talked to her ayah.

See also

• Ayah in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.

Anagrams

• Haya

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Indonesian

Noun

ayah

1. father (male parent)

See also

• bung

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Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ajah/
• Rhymes: -ajah, -jah, -ah

Noun

ayah

1. father (male parent)

Derived terms

• ayahanda
• aya (shortened)
• yah (shortened)

Synonyms

• bapa (bapanda, bapai, bapak, bapang, baba, papa)
• abah (aba, bah)
• rama