mamma
/ˈmæmə/noun, interjection, verb
mamma is spelled M-A-M-M-A: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “mama vs mamma” about 1,000 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, mamma means “The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mamma is mammae or mammas.
How many letters and syllables are in mamma?
| Letters | 5: M-A-M-M-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is mamma?
Mamma appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th 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 mamma?
- /ˈmæmə/
Mamma has 2 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-mamma.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with mamma
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: mama.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of mamma
- mammae plural
- mammas plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- mammaing participle, present
- mammaed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mamma mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder.
- 2
An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera.
- 3
Alternative spelling of mama.
interjection
- 1
Alternative spelling of mama.
verb
- 1
Alternative spelling of mama.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mamma in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense milk-secreting organ:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mamma come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin mamma.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).