mama

noun

ma·​ma ˈmä-mə 

chiefly British mə-ˈmä

variants or less commonly mamma or momma

1

: mother

2

slang : wife, woman

Synonyms of mama

• mom
• mother
• mommy

Examples of mama in a Sentence

I'm not your mama—you'll have to clean up after yourself.

Recent Examples on the Web

Computer nerds who’ve never left their basements and mama’s cooking are trying, and have taken over the sport with useless numbers, or analytics. —Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026

The beach belongs to babies, Bikini mamas, and the old. —Patricia Lockwood, The New York Review of Books, 5 Mar. 2026

When do mama bears den for the winter in Tahoe? —Sacbee.com, 25 Feb. 2026

This is not your mama's potato salad! —Patricia S York, Southern Living, 16 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

baby talk

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing mama

• mama's boy
• sugar mama

Rhymes for mama

• brahma
• chama
• comma
• dama
• drama
• gama
• lama
• llama
• mamma
• momma
• rama
• sama

Kids Definition

mama

noun

ma·​ma

variants also mamma or momma

ˈmäm-ə

: mother entry 1 sense 1a