mam

See also: Appendix:Variations of "mam"

Languages (26)

Translingual • English

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Bahnar • Cebuano • Czech • Darumbal • Dutch • Guriaso • Irish • K'iche' • Lapuyan Subanun • Lower Sorbian • Luxembourgish • Malay • Morori • Mpade • North Frisian • Polish • Q'anjob'al • Romanian • Serbo-Croatian • Spanish • Tagalog • Welsh • Wemba-Wemba • Yucatec Maya

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

From English Mam.

Symbol

mam

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Mam.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Mam terms

English

Pronunciation

• (Northumbria) IPA^(key): /mæm/

Etymology 1

Alteration or clipping of mama. Compare Scots mam, Early Scots mame (“mother”), mamye (“wet nurse”), Saterland Frisian Määme (“mother”), West Frisian mem (“mother”). Alternatively, possibly either conserved from or influenced by earlier Brythonic language.

Noun

mam (plural mams)

1. (UK, Ireland, regional, informal, colloquial) Mum, mom; diminutive of mother.
   • 2021, Glenda Young, The Miner's Lass:

     She'd sit by the fire, arms crossed, demanding that Ruby spike her tea with a cinder. But Ruby would never give in to her demands, no matter how much her mam begged. There was no alcohol in the house now; Arthur had made sure of that in an effort to get Mary sober.

Usage notes

• Used in place of mum or ma in Scotland, Northumbrian dialects such as Geordie, as well as throughout Ireland and Liverpool, Cumbria, Kingston upon Hull, Shetland, and the South Wales valleys; the Welsh word for mother is mam.

Derived terms

• mammy
• stepmam

See also

• ma'am

References

• Bill Griffiths, editor (2004), “mam”, in A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear: Northumbria University Press, →ISBN.
• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin, “mam”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[1], archived from the original on 5 September 2024.

Etymology 2

From mammary.

Noun

mam (plural mams)

1. (UK, slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
   • 2002, David M. Burns, Quests, page 24:

     There was another teacher […] who came to class fairly often wearing a thin silk blouse and NO BRA. Her 'mams' bounced appropriately, which was of course utterly FASCINATING for every boy in the class.

   • 2022, Craig W. Stanfill, The Prophecy of the Heron:

     She focused her entire mind on that moment she had shared with Shan, the softness of her mams, the wetness of her lips.

References

• Tony Thorne (2014), “mam”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London;  […]: Bloomsbury

Etymology 3

Noun

mam

1. (chiefly India) Misspelling of ma'am.
   • 1906 August 19, Winsor McCay, “Little Nemo in Slumberland”, in The New York Herald, New York, N.Y.: The New York Herald Co., →OCLC, comic strip:

     DID YOU EVER BATHE IN ROSE WATER BEFORE HUH, DID YOU? / NO MAM! ITS^[sic] ALL SALT WHERE I CAME FROM.

Anagrams

• MMA, Amm, amm

Bahnar

Etymology

From Proto-Bahnaric *maːm. Cognate with Sedang méam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maːm/

Noun

mam

1. metal, iron, steel

Derived terms

• mam hrip

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English ma'am, contraction of madam.

Noun

mam

1. an address to a female superior
2. an address to a female teacher

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmam]
• Hyphenation: mam
• Rhymes: -am

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Slavic *mamiti

Old Czech mámiti

Czech mámitdeverb.

Czech mam

Deverbal from mámit (“to deceive”).

Noun

mam m inan

1. (dated) fallacy, illusion, deception

   Synonyms: blud, klam

Declension

Declension of mam (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	mam	mamy
genitive	mamu	mamů
dative	mamu	mamům
accusative	mam	mamy
vocative	mame	mamy
locative	mamu	mamech
instrumental	mamem	mamy

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

mam

1. second-person singular imperative of mámit

Further reading

• “mam”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “mam”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “mam”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Darumbal

Noun

mam

1. breast

References

• Angela Terrill (2002), Dharumbal: the language of Rockhampton, Australia (Pacific Linguistics; 525), Canberra: Australian National University Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, →ISBN, page 53.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑm

Noun

mam f (plural mammen, diminutive mammetje n)

1. mother (mum)

   Synonyms: moeder, moe

Guriaso

Noun

mam

1. breast

References

• Wietze Baron, Kwomtari Survey (1983)
• ASJP (data supplied by Matthew Dryer)

Irish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Compare Old Irish muimme (“foster mother”), Proto-Celtic *mammā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mˠamˠ]

Noun

mam f (genitive singular maime, nominative plural mamanna)

1. mam, mum, mom

Declension

Declension of mam (second declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative mam mamanna vocative a mham a mhamanna genitive maime mamanna dative mam mamanna forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an mham na mamanna genitive na maime na mamanna dative leis an mam don mham leis na mamanna

Synonyms

• maime
• mamaí

Mutation

Mutated forms of mam

radical	lenition	eclipsis
mam	mham	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “mam”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

K'iche'

Noun

mam

1. grandfather, father's father or mother's father

References

• The Academy of Mayan Languages with speaker Lucas Chilisná Botón (2014), “Entry #137”, in Kʼulbʼil Yol Twitz Paxil [Kʼicheʼ Talking Dictionary]‎^[2], Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages

Lapuyan Subanun

Etymology

Etymology tree

Old French madame

Middle English madame

English madam

English ma'ambor.

Lapuyan Subanun mam

Borrowed from English ma'am, from madam, from Middle English madame, from Old French madame.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mam/

Noun

mam

1. ma'am

   Mam, melyag a sumaluy shera'?

   Ma'am, do you want to buy some fish?

References

• Phrase Book: Central Subanen, Southern Subanen, Western Subanon, Cebuano, Filipino, English‎^[3], Davao City: Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1992, page 30

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mam]

Verb

mam

1. first-person singular present of měś

Derived terms

• mamk a hamk

Luxembourgish

Contraction

mam

1. contraction of mat + dem; with the

Malay

Etymology

Apocopic form of mampus

Verb

mam

1. (slang) alternative form of mampus

Interjection

mam

1. (slang) alternative form of mampus

Derived terms

• gimam
• nak mam

Morori

Noun

mam

1. breast
2. mother

References

• Andrew Pawley et al., "The Trans New Guinea family", in The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide (2018, →ISBN)

Mpade

Etymology

From Proto-Central Chadic *ɗawɨm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mam/, [mam]

Noun

mam f

1. honey
2. bee
3. swarm

References

• S. Allison, Makary Kotoko Provisional Lexicon (SIL)
• R.C. Gravina, The Phonology of Proto-Central Chadic
• S. Allison, Alphabet et Orthographie de Kotoko de Makary (Mpadɨ) (SIL) (in French)

North Frisian

Etymology

Cognates include West Frisian mem.

Noun

mam f (plural (Föhr-Amrum) mamen or (Mooring) mamne)

1. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) mother, mum

   mam an aatj ― mother and father (Föhr-Amrum)

Usage notes

• In Mooring dialect it inflects in the same was as taatje (see there):

Hääst dü mamen sänj? ― Have you seen Mother?

Ik hääw anjörsne din mam sänj. ― I saw your mother yesterday.

See also

• Mooter (Sylt)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmam/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: mam

Verb

mam

1. first-person singular present of mieć

Verb

mam

1. second-person singular imperative of mamić

Noun

mam f

1. genitive plural of mama

Further reading

• “mam”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Q'anjob'al

Noun

mam

1. father

Romanian

Etymology

Unawareness of the fact that it is a contraction, and thus is spelled together.

Contraction

mam

1. (eye dialect) misspelling of m-am

Serbo-Croatian

Adverb

mam (Cyrillic spelling мам)

1. (Kajkavian) right now
2. (Kajkavian) immediately

Related terms

• odmah

Spanish

Etymology

From the name in Mam, of Mayan origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmam/ [ˈmãm]
• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: mam

Adjective

mam m or f (masculine and feminine plural mames)

1. (relational) Mam (of or relating to the Mam people)

Noun

mam m (uncountable)

1. Mam (language)

Noun

mam m or f by sense (plural mam or mames)

1. Mam

Further reading

• “mam”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈmam/ [ˈmam]
• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: mam

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English ma'am, is a contraction of madam.

Noun

mam (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜋ᜔)

1. alternative form of madam

Derived terms

• mamsir

Etymology 2

Noun

mam (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜋ᜔) (childish)

1. alternative form of mamam

Welsh

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Welsh mam, from Proto-Brythonic *mamm, from Proto-Celtic *mammā, a baby talk word replacing Proto-Celtic *mātīr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mam/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -am

Noun

mam f (plural mamau)

1. mother
2. ancestress
3. dam
4. queen bee

Usage notes

Some, especially northern, dialects employ a non-standard aspirate mutation of mam to mham. In practice, this only occurs after the determiner ei (“her”). See also nain to nhain for a similar example.

Coordinate terms

• mab (“son”)
• merch (“daughter”)
• tad (“father”)

Derived terms

• cariad mam (“maternal love”)
• ein mam ni oll (“the mother of us all, the earth”)
• ffigwr mam (“mother figure”)
• llysfam (“stepmother”)
• Mam (“Mum, Mam, Mom”)
• mam cŵn bach (“over-protective mother”)
• Mam Duw (“Mother of God”)
• mam ddaear (“mother earth”)
• mam ddibriod (“unmarried mother”)
• mam faeth (“foster mother”)
• mam fedydd (“godmother”)
• mam feichiog (“expectant mother”)
• mam fenthyg (“surrogate mother”)
• mam frenhines (“queen mother”)
• mam goeden (“seed tree”)
• mam miloedd (“mind-your-own-business, Soleirolia soleirolii; ivy-leaved toadflax, Cymbalaria muralis”)
• mam sy'n bwydo o'r fron (“nursing mother”)
• mam weddw (“widowed mother”)
• mam wen (“stepmother”)
• mam y drwg (“cause or root of evil”)
• mam y glo (“mother of coal, impure coal in a coal seam”)
• mam y perl (“mother-of-pearl”)
• mam yng nghyfraith (“mother-in-law; wild pansy, Viola tricolor”)
• mam yn ei harddegau (“teenage mother”)
• mam yn Israel (“mother in Israel, elderly woman much loved by her family or community”)
• mam-dâp (“father tape”)
• mam-gu (“grandmother”)
• mamaeth (“wetnurse”)
• mameglwys (“mother-church”)
• mami (“mummy, mammy, mommy”)
• mamiaith (“mother tongue”)
• mamol (“motherly, maternal”)
• mamwlad (“mother country, fatherland”)
• Môn Mam Cymru (“Anglesey, the Mother of Wales”)
• parablu mam (“motherese”)
• yr Hen Fam (“Church of England”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of mam

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
mam	fam	unchanged	mham△

^△Irregular.

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Griffiths, Bruce; Glyn Jones, Dafydd (1995), “mother”, in Geiriadur yr Academi: The Welsh Academy English–Welsh Dictionary‎^[5], Cardiff: University of Wales Press, →ISBN
• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “mam”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “mam”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Wemba-Wemba

Etymology

Cognate with Woiwurrung mamem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mam/, [ˈmɑːm]

Noun

mam

1. father

References

• Hercus, L. A. (1986), Victorian languages: A late survey (Pacific Linguistics), Canberra, A.C.T., Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, →DOI, page 187

Yucatec Maya

Noun

mam

1. ancestor