Word.ws English Dictionary

ambon

ambon is the alternative form of ambo.

Meaning of ambo

Noun (1)

ambo (plural ambos or ambones)

  1. A raised platform in an early Christian church, as well as in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic churches.
    • ‘It will get settled somehow,’ he thought, and went to the ambo. On going up the steps and turning to the right he saw the priest.1918 [1878], chapter 1, in Aylmer and Louise Maude, transl., Anna Karenina, Cambridge: Oxford University Press, translation of Анна Каренина (Anna Karenina) by Leo Tolstoy, →OCLC, part 5, page 4
  2. A stationary podium used for readings and homilies.
    • The dignity of the Word of God requires that in the church there be a suitable place from which it may be proclaimed and toward which the attention of the faithful naturally turns during the Liturgy of the Word. It is appropriate that generally this place be a stationary ambo and not simply a...2010, General Instruction of the Roman Missal, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, published 2011, section #309

Noun (2)

ambo (plural ambos)

  1. (informal) An ambulance driver.
  2. (informal) An ambulance.
    • Rawls: I don't want the fuckin' reporters seeing any ambos. Shit.2004 Dec. 19, David Simon & al., "Mission Accomplished", The Wire, Season 3, Episode 12, 00:31:54

Noun (3)

ambo (plural ambos)

  1. (slang) An ambassador.
    • The Ambo needed a sizable embassy support staff to hold his hand at every step of the way, […]2022, Susan Gillerman Boggs, Journey Across Time: A Diplomatic Spouse in South Asia

Proper noun capitalized: Ambon

Ambon

  1. An island of Moluccas, Indonesia.
  2. A city, the provincial capital of Maluku, Indonesia.

Forms of ambon

pluralambons

Origin of ambon

Ultimately from Old Javanese Ambwan (“Ambon”), attested in the Nagarakṛtāgama, likely through Classical Malay and reinforced by modern Indonesian. Compare nearby names such as Fordata Yabun. See also Amboyna, ultimately from Portuguese, and likely from a similar source.

Words formed from ambon

Questions about ambon

What does ambon mean?
Ambon means an island of Moluccas, Indonesia.
What is ambon the alternative form of?
Ambon is the alternative form of ambo.
What part of speech is ambon?
Ambon is a proper noun.

Words near ambon in the dictionary

  1. ambodexter
  2. ambodexters
  3. amboina
  4. amboinas
  5. Amboise
  6. ambon
  7. ambones
  8. Ambonese
  9. Ambonese Malay
  10. ambonite
  11. ambonites

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ambon (page history and authors); Ambon (page history and authors); ambo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “ambon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ambon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.