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ama

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ama¹

  • /ˈɑː.mə/ US, UK
  • /ˈɑː.mɑ/ Singapore English

Rhymes with (Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɑːmə

Where it comes from

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

noun amas

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of amah Not only does the baby have a jewel then, or some handsome gift, but his ama (nurse) is remembered with a bright gold doubloon (sixteen dollars).

ama²

  • /ˈɑː.mə/ US, UK
  • /ˈɑː.mɑ/ Singapore English

Rhymes with (Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɑːmə

Where it comes from

From Japanese あま.

noun amas

  1. A traditional Japanese pearl diver, usually female, who mainly dives for seafood, typically without any tool for breathing.

ama³

  • /ˈɑː.mə/ US, UK
  • /ˈɑː.mɑ/ Singapore English

Rhymes with (Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɑːmə

Where it comes from

From Polynesian.

noun amas

  1. The float on the outrigger of a proa or trimaran.

ama⁴

  • /ˈɑː.mə/ US, UK
  • /ˈɑː.mɑ/ Singapore English

Rhymes with (Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɑːmə

Where it comes from

From Sanskrit अम (ama, “disease”).

noun amas

  1. countable, uncountable A toxic byproduct of improper or incomplete digestion.

ama⁵

  • /ˈɑː.mə/ US, UK
  • /ˈɑː.mɑ/ Singapore English

Rhymes with (Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɑːmə

Where it comes from

Unknown.

noun amas

  1. Fabric made from the hair of a camel or goat.

ama⁶

  • /ʔɐˈma/
  • /ˈɑː.mə/ US, UK
  • /ˈɑː.mɑ/ Singapore English

Rhymes with (Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɑːmə

Where it comes from

From Hokkien 阿媽 /阿妈 (a-má, “paternal grandmother”). See also Hokkien 俺媽 /俺妈 (án-má), Portuguese Templo de A-Má.

noun amas · amah · ahma · amma

  1. Philippines, colloquial paternal grandmother; paternal grandma "Perhaps," her grandmother had said. She was nearing death at that point, Mia's ama. Her body was wracked with arthritis, rheumatism, Parkinson's, osteoporosis and more. The maids said she was crazy with pain, and perhaps too far gone to even think properly.
  2. Philippines, colloquial term of address for one's paternal grandmother There would always be some food offerrings there, and every morning, Amma would burn some incense. More elaborate offerings were made on the anniversaries of his birth and death, and the Chinese festivals for the dead such as Qingming in April and the Hungry Ghosts on the seventh lunar month.

ama⁷

  • /ˈɑː.mə/ US, UK
  • /ˈɑː.mɑ/ Singapore English

Rhymes with (Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɑːmə

Where it comes from

Initialism.

phrase

  1. alternative Alternative form of AMA (“against medical advice”).

AMA⁸

proper noun A.M.A. · A. M. A.

  1. US, abbreviation, initialism Initialism of American Medical Association “While there is still time, we urge Florida to reconsider this change to help prevent a rise of infectious disease outbreaks that put health and lives at risk,” said Dr. Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, an AMA trustee.
  2. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of Alberta Motor Association
  3. Australia, abbreviation, initialism Initialism of Australian Medical Association
  4. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of American Motorcyclist Association

phrase A.M.A. · A. M. A.

  1. Internet, abbreviation, initialism Initialism of ask me anything: usually attached to the end of a prompt in an “ask me anything” interview session.

noun AMAs · A.M.A. · A. M. A.

  1. Internet, abbreviation, initialism Initialism of ask me anything We did this after the company abruptly terminated Victoria Taylor, a Reddit employee who worked extensively with us as well as with other moderator teams on facilitating A.M.A.s. […] When the company removed her without warning or providing alternative resources, it effectively hindered every commun

phrase A.M.A. · A. M. A.

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of against medical advice

Ama⁹

proper noun

  1. A language of Papua New Guinea.
  2. A Nilo-Saharan language of Sudan.
  3. A female given name.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: mommy, mom, aam, minute, sas, amr, mao, ada, agency, monopolistic, monopoly, candlenut, wada, maa, olympic, iya

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Cite this
MLA

"ama." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ama. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ama. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ama

Chicago

"ama." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ama.

BibTeX
@misc{ama_2026,
  title = {ama},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ama},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}