amah
- noun
- /ˈɑːmə/
- Archaic
:
nodriza
- My baby and Amah in house.
Examples
-
She sounded now like one of Maks's childhood amahs.
Fiction book (2000) -
They lived in the households of their more fortunate sisters who had one and became amahs.
Fiction book (1994) -
When we were young, my mother had a Chinese amah to help look after us.
Fiction book (1999) -
Most families prefer us above all others as their children's amahs. "Why?" Ji Shen asked.
Fiction book (2000) -
When we were young, my mother had a Chinese amah to help look after us.
-
My old Filipina amah, or yaya, still lives there and is close to 90 now.
-
Most families prefer us above all others as their children's amah.
Synonyms
3
6.8
A woman who feeds another person's baby with her milk and cares for the baby
A woman who breastfeeds and cares for someone else's baby
A woman who feeds another person's baby with her own milk
Surface Forms
Etymology
Amah probably comes from the Portuguese ama 'nurse' or from Chinese 'ah' plus ma 'mother', which makes it easy to remember that an amah often breastfeeds and looks after a child for another family.