Mama

[ˈmama]

/[ˈmama]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Mama” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,778) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#1,778
frequency rank, German
3,571
“M” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Kindersprache, Familiensprache: der weibliche Elternteil

Corpus desk

Index DE-mama · Mama · German

Mama · rank #1,778 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,778
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,571
  • PHOTO-FINISH Not

Nearest frequency peer: Not (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „Mama“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „Mama“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Mama vs mm
25% similar
Mama vs man
25% similar
Mama vs may
25% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Mama
PropertyValue
HeadwordMama
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈmama]
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,778
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „Mama“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Mamaliegt auf dieser Marke:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Not“ (#1,779), „leiden“ (#1,776), „Presse“ (#1,780). Unter 3,571 „M“-Lemmata liegt „Mama“ bei #1,778. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Mama is neighbouring look-alikes ("mm", "man", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈmama]. Frequency #1,778 among 3,571 “M” headwords. Gloss: "Kindersprache, Familiensprache: der weibliche Elternteil".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for Mama, with forms such as "amma", "maam", and "mmaa". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mm", "man", "may", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Mama, spelled M-A-M-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Kindersprache, Familiensprache: der weibliche Elternteil

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Mama appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ich will zu meiner Mama!
  2. Du bist nicht die Mama!

Synonyms

MamiMumMuttchenMutterMuttiAlte

This word in other languages

Mom(English)mamá(Español)maman(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amma
  • maam
  • mmaa
  • mmama

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Mama - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

amma2maam2mmaa2mmama1
Edit distance from "Mama"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Mama"?
"Mama" is spelled M-A-M-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈmama].
What does "Mama" mean?
As a noun, "Mama" means: Kindersprache, Familiensprache: der weibliche Elternteil
What words are commonly confused with "Mama"?
"Mama" is commonly confused with "mm", "man", "may". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Mama"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Mama" is [ˈmama]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Mama" come from?
"Mama" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Mama", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Song#1,788Wand#1,793Wind#1,752Ecke#1,806

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list