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mamma

 [mah-muh, muh-mah]   Origin

mam·ma

1   [mah-muh, muh-mah]
noun
mama.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

mam·ma

2   [mam-uh]
noun, plural mam·mae  [mam-ee] for 1; mam·ma for 2.
1.
Anatomy, Zoology. a structure, characteristic of mammals, that comprises one or more mammary glands with an associated nipple or teat, usually rudimentary unless developed and activated for the secretion of milk in the female after the birth of young.
2.
Meteorology. (used with a plural verb) hanging, breastlike protuberances on the under surface of a cloud.
Origin:
before 1050; Middle English < Latin: breast, teat (whence Old English mamme teat). See mamma1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
mamma1
 
—n
1.  another word for mother Also: momma
2.  informal a buxom and voluptuous woman
 
[C16: reduplication of childish syllable ma; compare Welsh mam, French maman, Russian mama]

mamma2 (ˈmæmə)
 
—n , pl -mae
1.  the milk-secreting organ of female mammals: the breast in women, the udder in cows, sheep, etc
2.  (functioning as plural) breast-shaped protuberances, esp from the base of cumulonimbus clouds
 
[C17: from Latin: breast]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

mamma
1579, reduplication of *ma-, nearly universal among the I.E. languages (cf. Gk. mamme "mother, grandmother," L. mamma, Pers. mama, Rus., Lith. mama "mother," Ger. Muhme "mother's sister," Fr. mamen, Welsh mam "mother"). Probably a natural sound in baby-talk, perhaps imitative of sound made while sucking.
EXPAND
In educated usage, the stress is always on the last syllable. In terms of recorded usage in Eng., mum is from 1823, mummy 1839, momma 1884, mom 1894, and mommy 1902.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

mamma mam·ma (mām'ə)
n. pl. mam·mae (mām'ē)
A mammary gland.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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