Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A housemaid, especially a wet nurse, in India and the Far East.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A nurse; especially, a wet-nurse.
- n. A lady's-maid; a maid-servant.
Wiktionary
- n. A woman employed to look after children in India; a wet nurse.
- n. A maid in China and other parts of Asia.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. a woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.
- n. a female domestic.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a woman hired to suckle a child of someone else
- n. a female domestic
Etymologies
- From Portuguese ama, from Medieval Latin amma, perhaps an alteration of mamma, of imitative origin, or from Ancient Greek. (Wiktionary)
- Portuguese ama, nurse, from Medieval Latin amma, mother. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Ni'amah's house and frequented his slave-wife, Naomi.”
“Quoth Ni'amah's mother, "I fear lest thy lord know;" but said the old woman, "By Allah, I will not let her take seat on the floor; no, she shall look, standing on her feet, and not tarry.”
““She got a great deal from her amah,” said Marian.”
““That amah, she raised her,” Grace said sniff-ily.”
“Looking after Carol for the first time without an amah, cooking, cleaning, washing, and shopping for a family of three on the single modest salary that was all they had now that she herself was no longer teaching, meant hard physical labor and stringent economy.”
“Gov Zaldy clasping my hand said: “Ipaubaya ni amah si Datu Unsay sayo” and turned over Datu Unsay to me.”
“The word for “maidservant” is amah, which can connote a high status or honorific title, as well as marital status, when it is associated with an important official such as Elnathan the governor.”
“The inclusion of a female Davidic descendant as amah with Elnathan was certainly one way of solidifying local support for the Persian-appointed administration.”
“Has two Secret Service men, and brought over two of her own, a trained nurse, amah, cook, etc.”
“I climbed out of the window and escaped with the help of my amah.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘amah’.
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Maids
Maids of all stripes.
twait-shad, chambermaid, demoiselle, fille de chambre, housemaid, amah, lady's maid, femme-de-chambre, tire-woman, soubrette, comb-brush, abigail and 80 more...
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Funky Occupations
cambist, wainwright, amanuensis, anacoluthon, tonsorial, armamentarium, famulus, amah, editrix, buildress, ocularist, selenologist and 1 more...
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perhapsolutely's Words
polyradiculoneuro..., abulia, abubble, abscission, abaft, zareba, abatis, abigail, abiogenesis, ablate, ablaut, abo and 1705 more...
Tweets
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Comments
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