ama
/ˈɑː.mə/noun, prepositional phrase
ama is spelled A-M-A: 3 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ama means “Alternative spelling of amah” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ama is amas.
How many letters and syllables are in ama?
| Letters | 3: A-M-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ama?
Ama appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ama?
- US /ˈɑː.mə/
- /ˈɑː.mɑ/
As a noun (“paternal grandmother; paternal grandma”): /ʔɐˈma/, /ˈɑː.mə/, /ˈɑː.mɑ/.
Ama has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ama.wav, En-au-AMA.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ama?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ama from its last stressed vowel (/ɑmə/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: maa, aam.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ama
- amas plural
- amah
- ahma
- amma
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ama mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of amah.
- 2
A traditional Japanese pearl diver, usually female, who mainly dives for seafood, typically without any tool for breathing.
- 3
The float on the outrigger of a proa or trimaran.
- 4
A toxic byproduct of improper or incomplete digestion.
- 5
Fabric made from the hair of a camel or goat.
- 6
colloquialpaternal grandmother; paternal grandma
- 7
colloquialterm of address for one's paternal grandmother
phrase
- 1
Initialism of ask me anything: usually attached to the end of a prompt in an “ask me anything” interview session.
noun
- 1
Initialism of ask me anything.
prepositional phrase
- 1
Initialism of against medical advice.
prepositional phrase
- 1
Alternative form of AMA (“against medical advice”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does ama come from?
From Portuguese ama (“female nurse”), from Medieval Latin amma (“wet nurse, amma”), perhaps an alteration of mamma, of imitative origin, or from Ancient Greek.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).