amah

English

Alternative forms

• ama

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Portuguese ama (“female nurse”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Medieval Latin amma (“wet nurse, amma”), perhaps an alteration of mamma, of imitative origin, or from Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑː.mə/
• IPA^(key): /ˈɑː.mɑ/

Noun

amah (plural amahs)

1. In South Asia, a woman employed to look after children; (formerly) a wet nurse.
2. In China and Southeast Asia, a female domestic helper.
   • 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, p. 20:

     Then one day he disappeared and when Luke called apprehensively at his apartment the old amah told him that ‘Whisky Papa runrun London fastee.’

See also

• amma

Anagrams

• AHAM, Hama, maha, mahā

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Indonesian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /amah/

Noun

amah (first-person possessive amahku, second-person possessive amahmu, third-person possessive amahnya)

1. female domestic helper.

Etymology 2

From Arabic عَامَّة (ʕāmma, “common people, public”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /amah/

Noun

amah (first-person possessive amahku, second-person possessive amahmu, third-person possessive amahnya)

1. common people