Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See mama.
  • noun Pl. mammæ (-ē). The mammary gland and associated structures; the characteristic organ of the class Mammalia, which in the female secretes milk for the nourishment of the young; a breast or udder.
  • noun [capitalized] A genus of sea-snails of the family Naticidæ.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) A glandular organ for secreting milk, characteristic of all mammals, but usually rudimentary in the male; a mammary gland; a breast; udder; bag.
  • noun Mother; -- word of tenderness and familiarity.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative spelling of mama: mother.
  • noun anatomy The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder. (plural: mammae)
  • noun meteorology an accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun informal terms for a mother
  • noun milk-secreting organ of female mammals

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Alternative spelling of mama or momma.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin mamma.

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Examples

  • How interesting, then, that the word mamma is the Latin singular word for breast.

    mamma « Love | Peace | Ohana 2007

  • But you know Paris is so very amusing, and if only Harold remains good - natured about it, I shall be content to wait for the caravan (that's what he calls mamma and the children).

    A Bundle of Letters Henry James 1879

  • Mind you – I, or any mountain mamma cook from the Appalachians could have told the author that would be the case, but then, there is nothing wrong with someone proving us right after all these years.

    Tigers & Strawberries » The Riddle of Iron 2005

  • Society of Literature's annual prize for her poem Dartmoor, she noted that her son "sprang up from his Latin exercise and shouted aloud, 'Now, I am sure mamma is a better poet than Lord Byron!"'

    Contesting the Heterodoxy: Mrs. Hemans vs. Lord Byron 2001

  • He 's up in mamma's room, and was just saying, 'How 's Polly?' when I heard you come, in your creep-mouse way, and you must go right up.

    An Old-Fashioned Girl 1950

  • Perhaps mamma is sicker than usual, or papa worried about business, or Tom in some new scrape.

    An Old-Fashioned Girl 1950

  • I fancy some fruit off our own trees would suit me, for I have no appetite, and mamma is quite desolée about me.

    An Old-Fashioned Girl 1950

  • The other name for breasts is mammary gland (in Latin, mamma -- breast), and all animals who suckle their young are called mammals or mammalia.

    Woman Her Sex and Love Life William J. Robinson

  • When he returned, however, from his colloquy with the grinning Bob, he explained, 'He doesn't mean to be rude, he says, but he's so pleased that we've made the desert so trim, and that "madam," as he calls mamma, is able to come out and see it.

    Holiday Tales Florence Wilford

  • I call her mamma, but I am not related to her; I was brought up by her, ’ answered Varenka, flushing a little again.

    Chapter XXXI. Part II 1917

  • According to data from the technical interviewing specialist Karat, the majority of those layoffs have come from the biggest tech companies, otherwise known as MAMMA: Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple.

    Where are all the laid-off software developers going? Scott Carey 2023

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