mama-san
UK/ˈmaməˌsan/US/ˈmɑməˌsɑn/
mama-san noun: a mother, in Japan or East Asia.
Noun
mama-san (plural mama-sans)
- A mother, in Japan or East Asia.
- A woman in a position of authority, especially the madam of a geisha bar.
- ‘I had a last go at the film festival, hoping those Thai mammasans would stir you up with some juice kiddy-porn.’2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 340
- "We just get one very small meal – a single rice ball or piece of bread," said Mieko Kono, a hostess bar "mama-san" who looks spectacularly out of place in the municipal office, dolled up as she is in her work clothes of leopard-print top and slacks.2011 March 15, Jonathan Watts, The Guardian
Forms of mama-san
| plural | mama-sans |
|---|---|
| alternative form | mamasan |
| alternative form | mammasan |
Origin of mama-san
From Japanese ママ with the honorific title さん.
Questions about mama-san
- What does mama-san mean?
- Mama-san means a mother, in Japan or East Asia.
- What part of speech is mama-san?
- Mama-san is a noun.
- How do you pronounce mama-san?
- Mama-san is pronounced /ˈmaməˌsan/ (UK).
- What is the plural of mama-san?
- The plural of mama-san is mama-sans.
Words near mama-san in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mama-san (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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Cite this entry: “mama-san.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mama-san. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.