Word.ws English Dictionary

ma bap

ma bap noun: a person regarded as having a somewhat parental role toward their dependents; a benevolent overseer.

Noun

ma bap (plural ma baps)

  1. (India, historical) A person regarded as having a somewhat parental role toward their dependents; a benevolent overseer.
    • […] its members must adapt themselves to the changes which the country is undergoing, if they wish to command the regard, nay, the affection which the ma baps used to command in the olden days.1905, Pherozeshah Mehta, Sir Chirravoori Yajneswara Chintamani, Speeches and Writings of the Honourable Sir Pherozeshah M. Mehta, page XXI
    • The agriculturists and landlords knew nothing of rights of occupancy, and the tenants were all tenants at will. The former looked upon the latter as their "Ma Baps" (mothers and fathers), and there was very little litigation in the Courts. There was no High Court as at present constituted, and no...1909, E. J. Churcher, Some Reminiscences of Three-quarters of a Century in India, page 19

Examples of ma bap in a sentence

  • The former looked upon the latter as their "Ma Baps" (mothers and fathers), and there was very little litigation in the Courts.1909, E. J. Churcher, Some Reminiscences of Three-quarters of a Century in India, page 19:
  • It reminds me of the profession, exploded only recently, that the Government officials were the real Ma baps of the teeming millions of this country.1925, Bombay Millowners' Association, The Indian Cotton Excise Duty, page 176:

Forms of ma bap

pluralma baps

Questions about ma bap

What does ma bap mean?
Ma bap means a person regarded as having a somewhat parental role toward their dependents; a benevolent overseer.
How do you use ma bap in a sentence?
The former looked upon the latter as their "Ma Baps" (mothers and fathers), and there was very little litigation in the Courts.
What part of speech is ma bap?
Ma bap is a noun.
What is the plural of ma bap?
The plural of ma bap is ma baps.

Words near ma bap in the dictionary

  1. m9
  2. M98
  3. M98s
  4. m9s
  5. ma
  6. ma bap
  7. ma baps
  8. Ma Bell
  9. Ma Deuce
  10. Ma Deuces
  11. Ma Donald

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ma bap (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.

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