mamma

Name: mamma, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈmæmə/

//ˈmæmə// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“mamma” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #19,130) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#19,130
frequency rank, English: 4,057
“M” headwords: 3
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mamma · mamma · English

mamma · rank #19,130 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-MID #19,130
LEN-MID 5 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-LOW 3 variants
BOOK-MID 4,057
PHOTO-FINISH manic

Nearest frequency peer: manic (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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.

Ludwig

80,874
Macbeth

80,873
mamma

80,871
manic

80,870
manifold

80,869
Margot

80,868

What this shows Bars place “mamma” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

mamma vs MMA

0% similar

mamma vs mmm

60% similar

mamma vs Maya

40% similar

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

Key facts for mamma
Property	Value
Headword	mamma
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈmæmə/
Letters	5
Frequency rank	#19,130
Misspellings tracked	3
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “mamma”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).mammalands here:

#19,130

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “manic” (#19,131), “Macbeth” (#19,128), “manifold” (#19,132). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mamma” is #19,130. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for mamma is neighbouring look-alikes ("MMA", "mmm", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈmæmə/. Frequency #19,130 among 4,057 “M” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for mamma, with forms such as "ammma", "mamam", and "mmamma". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MMA", "mmm", "Maya", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin mamma. The correct English form is mamma, spelled M-A-M-M-A.

Definition

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

Either sex under special stimulations is capable of manifesting powers ordinarily shown only by the other […] Thus, to take an extreme case, the mammæ of men will, under special excitation, yield milk: there are various cases of gynecomasty on record, and in famines infants whose mothers have died have been thus saved.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin mamma.

This word in other languages

mama(Español)mama(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

ammma
mamam
mmamma

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mamma - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Edit distance from "mamma"

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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mamma"?

"mamma" is spelled M-A-M-M-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmæmə/.

What does "mamma" mean?

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.

What words are commonly confused with "mamma"?

"mamma" is commonly confused with "MMA", "mmm", "Maya". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "mamma"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mamma" is /ˈmæmə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "mamma"?

Learned borrowing from Latin mamma. See the full etymology section above for more details.

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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

manic#19,131 melon#19,138 MSNBC#19,143 irons#19,115