momo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "momo"

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈməʊməʊ/, enPR: mō'mō

Etymology 1

A plate of momo from Nepal

From Tibetan མོག་མོག (mog mog), from Mandarin 饃饃／馍馍 (mómo).

Noun

momo (plural momos or momo)

1. A type of dumpling from Nepal, Ladakh or Tibet made with a simple flour and water dough and filled with meat, vegetables or cheese.
   • 2007 July 1, “Far East of the U.N.”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Many dishes show a direct influence of China or India; for example, momos, or Tibetan dumplings, look like Chinese pot-stickers.

   • 2022 January 25, Christina Morales, “How the Air Fryer Crisped Its Way Into America’s Heart”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     She heated handpies and tofu in her off-campus apartment, and at her home in India, she heats momos, dehydrates mangoes and cooks whole, shelled peanuts.

2. (India, slang, offensive) A person from Northeast India.
   • 2017 May 23, Alana Golmei, “Let’s talk about racism”, in Hindustan Times, Delhi:

     Since I come from the North-eastern part of India myself and belong to a minority race, I too have suffered from racism, at least in its milder forms. I’ve been called "chinky", "momo", "chowmein", and more.

   • 2021 June 9, “Northeast Indians DISRESPECTED once again with 'momo' slur”, in India Today Northeast:

     Now, it is a well-known fact that many Northeast Indians are derogatorily called 'momos' after the dish by mainland Indians for their round-ish features.

Alternative forms

• mo-mo

Translations

type of dumpling

• Assamese: মম (mom)
• Belarusian: мо́ма (móma)
• Bengali: মোমো (mōmō)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 饃饃／馍馍 (mómo)

• Dutch: momo (nl)
• Dzongkha: མོ་མོ (mo mo)
• Finnish: momo, momo-nyytti
• French: momo (fr)
• German: Momo
• Hindi: मोमो m (momo)
• Hungarian: momo
• Japanese: モモ (ja) (momo)
• Kyrgyz: момо (momo)
• Ladakhi: མོག་མོག (mog mog)
• Nepali: मोःमो (moḥmo), मोमो (momo), मःम (maḥma), मम (mama), मोःमोः (moḥmoḥ), मोमोः (momoḥ), मःमः (maḥmaḥ), ममः (mamaḥ), मम (mam)
• Newar: मम (mama)
• Polish: momo (pl)
• Portuguese: momo (pt) m
• Russian: мо́мо (mómo)
• Spanish: momo
• Swedish: momos
• Thai: โมโม (mo-mo)
• Tibetan: མོག་མོག (mog mog)
• Turkish: momo
• Ukrainian: момо (momo)

Etymology 2

Clipping and reduplication of moron.

Noun

momo (plural momos)

1. (US, slang, derogatory) A moron.
   • 1995, Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese, Casino, spoken by Ace (Robert De Niro):

     The probability on one-four-reel machine is a million and a half to one. On three machines in a row, it's in the billions. It cannot happen… would not happen, you fuckin' momo!

Further reading

• Momo (food) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Jonathon Green (2024) “momo n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• Eric Partridge (2005) “momo”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 2 (J–Z), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1310.

Adangme

Adverb

momo

1. already

Aiwoo

Verb

momo

1. to chew (in order to swallow)

See also

• mabe

References

• Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Hopi

Etymology

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

Noun

momo (plural momòot)

1. bee

Derived terms

• Momo
• momohepto
• Momokatsina
• momosavìipi
• momospala
• momotsìipu
• momòohepto
• momòoki
• momòotsama

 

References

• Albert, Roy, Shaul, David Leedom (1985) A Concise Hopi and English Lexicon, John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 40
• Hopi Dictionary Project, The (1998) Hopi Dictionary: Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni: A Hopi Dictionary of the Third Mesa Dialect with an English-Hopi Finder List and a Sketch of Hopi Grammar, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, page 244

Japanese

Romanization

momo

1. Rōmaji transcription of もも

Kholosi

Etymology

From Sanskrit माम (māma, “uncle”).

Noun

momo m

1. (family) maternal uncle

References

• Eric Anonby, Hassan Mohebi Bahmani (2014) “Shipwrecked and Landlocked: Kholosi, an Indo-Aryan Language in South-west Iran”, in Cahier de Studia Iranica xx‎^[3], pages 13-36

Maori

Noun

momo

1. a type, a kind, a species, a breed, a variety, a race, a genre

Further reading

• momo entry at the online Māori Dictionary

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmõ.mu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmõ.mu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmo.mo/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmo.mu/

• Hyphenation: mo‧mo

Noun

momo m (plural momos)

1. King Momo (character representing the king of carnival in Latin America)
2. momo

Spanish

Etymology

Uncertain:

• from Vulgar Latin *mōmus, from Ancient Greek Μῶμος (Mômos, “god of satire and mockery”), from μῶμος (mômos);
• from an imitative Proto-Germanic root, whence Dutch mom (“mask”), German Mumme (“mask”) - see mummer.
• from Old French momer (“to wear a mask”), related to momon (“mask”), from an child's word expressing astonishment. Compare English mum.

Cognate to Portuguese momo, Aragonese momo, Catalan mom, French momon (“mask”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmomo/ [ˈmo.mo]
• Rhymes: -omo
• Syllabification: mo‧mo

Noun

momo m (plural momos)

1. funny face; silly face
2. alternative/ironic spelling of meme

Further reading

• “momo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Tagalog

Etymology

From apparent reduplication of the first syllable of multo.

Noun

momo (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜓᜋᜓ)

1. Alternative form of mumo