mom

See also: Appendix:Variations of "mom"

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Monimbo.

Symbol

mom

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

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Monimbo terms

English

Alternative forms

• mam
• Mom
• mum, Mum (Australia, British, Ireland)

Etymology

Clipping of momma.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɒm/
• (US) enPR: mŏm, IPA^(key): /mɑm/, [mɑ̃m]
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /mɒm/, /mʌm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒm

Noun

mom (plural moms)

1. (Canada, South Africa, US, West Midlands, colloquial, informal) Mother.
   • 2025 May 1, Carolina Gazal, “We asked our moms what they want for Mother’s Day. Here’s what they said”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     To find out what moms really want this year, we turned to the best source possible: our own mothers.

   • 2025 May 11, Sara Sidner, “Beyoncé’s mom talks about the choices she made while raising her daughters”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     At a very early age, Knowles says she was taught not to draw any attention to herself. “Pretty is as pretty does,” her mom used to say.

   1. (by extension) used as a term of address for one's wife
      • 2017, Allstate: All Alone‎^[3]:

        (spoken by the father) I don't share it with mom! Right, mom?

2. (informal) An adult female owner of a pet.

Usage notes

• Mom can be capitalized when used as a proper noun, but not when used as a common noun (e.g. with a possessive):

  I think Mom likes my new car.

  I think my mom will like you.

Derived terms

• almond mom
• angel mom
• ballet mom
• biomom
• birdmom
• bonus mom
• boy mom
• cannamom
• crunchy mom
• deadbeat mom
• grandmom
• granola mom
• helicopter mom
• hockey mom
• Instamom
• insta-mom
• listmom
• momager
• mom and apple pie
• mom-and-pop
• mom and pop
• mom and them
• momarazzi
• mombie
• mom blogger
• mom bod
• mom cave
• momhood
• momic
• mom-in-law
• momism
• mom jeans
• momless
• momlike
• momly
• mommish
• mommy
• momnesia
• momness
• momoir
• mompetition
• mompreneur
• momsplain
• momsy
• mom test
• momtini
• momtrepreneur
• momzilla
• Octomom
• refrigerator mom
• scrunchy mom
• security mom
• silky mom
• soccer mom
• stage mom
• stepmom
• supermom
• tiger mom
• Twimom
• waitress mom
• wine mom
• your mom

Translations

mother — see mum

See also

• Mother’s Day
• Appendix:American Dialect Society words of the year

Verb

mom (third-person singular simple present moms, present participle momming, simple past and past participle mommed)

1. (transitive, Canada, US, informal) To care for in a motherly way.
   • 2019, Marie Johnston, Finish Line:

     The shock of my news had worn off, and now she'd want to know where I was, how I was doing, and she'd sniff out that I was with someone. “I just wanted to check in on you.” That was Mom. Totally unashamed about momming me.

   • 2022, Sean Thor Conroe, Fuccboi‎^[4], Hachette, →ISBN:

     He tried to tell me how to live, to mom me, I told him fuck off, […]

Anagrams

• MMO

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

mom f or m or n (plural mommen, diminutive mommetje n)

1. mask
2. a specific kind of beer

Derived terms

• mombakkes
• mommer
• vermommen

Nisenan

Noun

mom

1. water

References

• Andrew Eatough, Central Hill Nisenan Texts with Grammatical Sketch

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [mɔm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [mɔm˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [mɔm˧˧]

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

(classifier cái) mom • (𠻦, 鎫, 󰄉)

1. outcrop, promontory of a riverbank
   • 2021 September 5, Hà Quang Minh, “Những mom sông vô hình [Invisible riverbank promontories]”, in Công An Nhân Dân:

     Họ ngày ngày cần mẫn ở cái mom sông của họ, một cái mom sông vô hình nhưng đủ tạo ra cả một quần thể chợ búa sinh động đủ cả. Có rau, có dưa, có vịt, có gà, có cá, có tôm và cũng có cả mặc cả ngã giá thêm thắt cho nhau chút này chút kia như một chút quà.

     Day after day, they diligently worked at their riverbank outcrop — an invisible riverbank promontory, yet enough to form an entire bustling market community around it. There were vegetables, melons, ducks, chickens, fish, shrimp, with people bargaining and haggling a little here and there as a kind of gift.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English mom.

Noun

mom

1. (Internet slang) mom

Pronoun

mom

1. (Internet slang) I/me, your mother
2. (Internet slang) you, my mother
3. (Internet slang) you, a fellow mother
4. (Internet slang) you, a fellow woman

White Hmong

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 帽 (mào, “hat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɒ˩̰/

Noun

mom

1. used in kaus mom (“hat, cap, helmet”)

References

• Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979), White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[5], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 130.