English
amah
Amah comes from Portuguese ama ‘female nurse’, and goes back to Medieval Latin amma.
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500amma‘wet nurse, amma’
- Old Galician-Portuguesec. 1100–1500ama
- Portuguesec. 1500–presentsame form‘female nurse’
- Englishearliest quotation 1977amah
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500amma‘wet nurse, amma’
- Old Galician-Portuguesec. 1100–1500ama
- Portuguesec. 1500–presentsame form‘female nurse’
- Englishearliest quotation 1977amah
Earliest quotation: 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy: “Then one day he disappeared and when Luke called…”
Linked words
through Ancient Greek μάμμη ‘mother's breast’
through Latin mamma ‘breast’
through Medieval Latin amma ‘wet nurse, amma’
through Portuguese ama ‘female nurse’
Today it means
noun A woman employed to look after children; (formerly) a wet nurse.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Medieval Latin amma / amah