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ma'am

ma'am
M m

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [mam, mahm; unstressed muh m]
    • /mæm, mɑm; unstressed məm/
    • /mɑːm/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [mam, mahm; unstressed muh m]
    • /mæm, mɑm; unstressed məm/

Definitions of ma'am word

  • noun ma'am madam (def 1). 1
  • noun ma'am (in Britain) a term used in addressing the queen or a royal princess. 1
  • interjection ma'am madam: to a woman 1
  • interjection ma'am madam: to a woman of higher status 1
  • interjection ma'am madam: to a female royal 1
  • countable noun ma'am People sometimes say ma'am as a very formal and polite way of addressing a woman whose name they do not know or a woman of superior rank. 0

Information block about the term

Origin of ma'am

First appearance:

before 1660
One of the 46% oldest English words
First recorded in 1660-70; by contraction

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Ma'am

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

ma'am popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 48% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

Synonyms for ma'am

noun ma'am

  • dame — Dame is a title given to a woman as a special honour because of important service or work that she has done.
  • madame — a French title of respect equivalent to “Mrs.”, used alone or prefixed to a woman's married name or title: Madame Curie.
  • madonna — the Virgin Mary (usually preceded by the).
  • frau — a married woman; a wife.
  • signora — a conventional Italian term of address or title of respect for a married woman, either used separately or prefixed to the name.

See also

Matching words

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