[ab-uh] 
) | 1. | a title of reverence for bishops and patriarchs in the Coptic, Ethiopian Christian, and Syriac churches. |
| 2. | New Testament. an Aramaic word for father, used by Jesus and Paul to address God in a relation of personal intimacy. |
[uh-bah, ah-buh] | 1. | a coarse, felted fabric woven of camel's or goat's hair. |
| 2. | a loose, sleeveless outer garment made of this fabric or of silk, worn by Arabs. |
| (formerly, esp. in creole-speaking cultures) a name given at birth to a black child, in accordance with African customs, indicating the child's sex and the day of the week on which he or she was born, as the male and female names for Sunday (Quashee and Quasheba), Monday (Cudjo or Cudjoe and Juba), Tuesday (Cubbena and Beneba), Wednesday (Quaco and Cuba or Cubba), Thursday (Quao and Abba), Friday (Cuffee or Cuffy and Pheba or Phibbi), and Saturday (Quamin or Quame and Mimba). |
| Ab·ba (āb'ə, ä'bə) n.
[Middle English, from Late Latin abbā, from Greek; see abbot.] |
Abba
This Syriac or Chaldee word is found three times in the New Testament (Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), and in each case is followed by its Greek equivalent, which is translated "father." It is a term expressing warm affection and filial confidence. It has no perfect equivalent in our language. It has passed into European languages as an ecclesiastical term, "abbot."