Word.ws English Dictionary

mammet

/ˈmamɪt/

mammet noun: a false god; an idol.

Noun

mammet (plural mammets)

  1. (obsolete) A false god; an idol.
    • Moloc that mawmett. there darre no man wᵗ ſay
      The Reſte of ſuche Reconyng may make a fowle frayec. 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott
  2. A doll or puppet; a lifeless figure, an effigy, a scarecrow.
    • And then to haue a wretched puling foole, / A whining mammet, in her Fortunes tender, / To answer, Ile not wed, I cannot Loue: / I am too young, I pray you pardon me.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • this is no world / To play with mammets and to tilt with lipsc. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  3. A contemptible person; a weakling, a fool.
    • Blind, deaf, insensate driveler!—Torpid, blockish, brainless mammet!1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. V, letter 88
    • "Had it anything to do with father's making such a mommet of himself in the carriage this afternoon?1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 32

Forms of mammet

pluralmammets
alternative formmaumet
alternative formmawmet
alternative formmommet

Origin of mammet

From Middle English mawmet, from Anglo-Norman maumet, shortened form of mauhoumet, mahumet; deriving from Andalusian Arabic مَحُمَّدْ (“Maḥummad”), ultimately derived from Arabic مُحَمَّد (muḥammad). Doublet of Muhammad and Mahound.

Questions about mammet

What does mammet mean?
Mammet means a false god; an idol.
What part of speech is mammet?
Mammet is a noun.
How do you pronounce mammet?
Mammet is pronounced /ˈmamɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of mammet?
The plural of mammet is mammets.

Words near mammet in the dictionary

  1. mammer
  2. mammered
  3. mammering
  4. mammers
  5. mammery
  6. mammet
  7. mammetries
  8. mammetry
  9. mammets
  10. mammey
  11. mammeys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mammet (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mammet.wav.

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