mammy

English

Alternative forms

• mammie

Etymology

Etymology tree

English mam

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English mammy

From mam + -y.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Rhymes: -æmi

Noun

mammy (plural mammies)

1. (childish) mamma; mother
2. (US, historical, often derogatory) In the southern United States, a black nanny employed to look after white children; or in the antebellum South, a female slave who was close to the household and looked after the children.
   • 1979, Octavia Butler, Kindred:

     That's what you for—to help white folks keep niggers down. That's why he sent you to me. They be calling you mammy in a few years. You be running the whole house when the old man dies.

Derived terms

• grandmammy
• Mammygate

Translations

child's name for mother

• French: maman (fr)
• German: Mami, Mama.
• Hebrew: אמא (he)
• Macedonian: мама f (mama)
• Portuguese: mamãe (pt) f
• Spanish: mamá (es), mami.
• Walloon: moman (wa) f, mame (wa) f, man (wa) f

See also

probably etymologically unrelated terms

• mammy market
• mammy wagon

French

Noun

mammy f (plural mammys)

1. alternative spelling of mamie

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmam.mɘ/
• Rhymes: -ammɘ
• Syllabification: mam‧my

Verb

mammy

1. first-person plural imperative of mamić