po po
po po noun: mother-in-law, (especially) the mother of one's husband.
Noun
po po (plural po pos)
- Mother-in-law, (especially) the mother of one's husband.
- When she was about eight years old a very sad thing happened to May Blossom. Her mother died and her “po-po” (mother-in-law) said she must go and live with her1906, China's Millions, China Inland Mission (Council for North America), page 9
- All through the term she was a regular attendant, though her Po-Po (mother-in-law) tried many schemes to hinder her. Mrs. Fu’s virtuous life has been a sore rebuke to the old lady who spends her days gossiping, feasting and gambling with her old cronies.1915, “Missions”, in Missions: American Baptist International Magazine, volume 6, American Baptist Convention, page 672
- Grandmother, (especially) one's maternal grandmother.
- And Stephanie has, since birth, lived with her grandmother – her Po-po – in this house.1995, Mei Zhou, Elizabeth Choy: More Than a War Heroine, page 154
- His fingers curled into fists. “Listen, you old bat—”
Po Po whipped out her pepper spray and blasted him.2015, Anne R. Tan, Gusty Lovers and Cadavers, page 21
Forms of po po
| plural | po pos |
|---|---|
| alternative form | po-po |
| alternative form | Po Po |
Origin of po po
Borrowed from Mandarin 婆婆 (pópo, “husband's mother”), Cantonese 婆婆 (po⁴ po⁴⁻², “maternal grandmother”).
Questions about po po
- What does po po mean?
- Po po means mother-in-law, (especially) the mother of one's husband.
- What part of speech is po po?
- Po po is a noun.
- What is the plural of po po?
- The plural of po po is po pos.
Words near po po in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: po po (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: “po po.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/po_po. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.