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

Blondie, as locals have affectionately named the mama bear to two cubs, was euthanized after swiping at a resident who was walking her dog on March 14 in Monrovia, a city on the edge of the Angeles National Forrest. —Isabel Yip, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2026

Backlash after officials kill a SoCal mama bear Her two cubs, believed to be 2 to 3 months old, will spend the rest of their childhood in captivity in the hopes that they can one day be released back into the wild. —James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026

My mama taught me that a good wrap dress is worth its weight in gold. —Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2026

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

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