ama

¹ American  

[ah-mah] / ˈɑ mɑ /

noun

plural

amas, ama

1. a Japanese diver, usually a woman, who tends underwater oyster beds used in the cultivation of pearls.

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-ama ² American  

1. variant of -orama, occurring as the final element in compounds when the first element is a disyllable ending in - r, used so that the entire word maintains the same number of syllables as panorama .

   rollerama; Futurama.

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A.M.A. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. American Management Association.

2. American Medical Association.

3. American Motorcycle Association.

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AMA British  

abbreviation

1. American Medical Association

2. Australian Medical Association

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Etymology

Origin of ama

From Japanese, dating back to 1945–50, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

He added in the comments: "WOULDVE been the ama performance but they cancelled me for reasons unknown."

From Salon • Nov. 21, 2022

Sixty-one-year-old Tahi Nepia is calmly paddling his outrigger canoe, called a waka ama in his Indigenous Māori language, as it is buffeted from side to side.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 14, 2022

Novo poderia ter se aposentado há 18 anos, mas ficou além da conta porque ama seu trabalho.

From Science Magazine • May 26, 2022

El dueño de un restaurante ama y defiende de unos maleantes a una de sus meseras, quien fue abandonada por su esposo.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 18, 2019

But the son in addressing his father directly does not call him ama, but bapa, which is a more intimate and affectionate term; nor does he address his mother as ina, but bai.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 13 of 55 1604-1605 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of The Catholic Missions, As Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Blair, Emma Helen