baba

As one of the first utterances many babies are able to say, baba (like mama, papa, and dada) has come to be used in many languages as a term for various family members:

• father: Albanian, Arabic, Western Armenian, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Greek, Marathi, Mingrelian, Nepali, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, Yoruba, Shona, Zulu
• grandmother: many Slavic languages (such as Bulgarian, Russian, Czech and Polish), Romanian, Yiddish, Japanese
• grandfather: Azerbaijani, Zulu (father, grandfather)
• baby: Afrikaans, Sinhala, Hungarian

These terms often continue to be used by English speakers whose families came from one of these cultures. In some cases, they may become more widely used in localities that have been heavily influenced by an immigrant community. Some senses were extensions of one of these family terms in the original languages ("old woman" from "grandmother", "holy man" from "father"). The "cake" sense comes through French, from Polish baba (“old woman”). The Middle Eastern word baba (as in Ali Baba) is rather a term of endearment, and is ultimately derived from Persian بابا (bābā, “father”) (from Old Persian pāpa; as opposed to the Arabic words أَبُو (ʔabū) and أَب (ʔab); see also Papak), and is linguistically related to the common European word papa and the word pope, having the same Indo-European origin. The Chinese word "baba", meaning father comes from 爸爸.

• IPA^(key): (variously) /ˈbɑːbɑː/, /ˈbɑːbə/, /ˈbæbə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːbɑː, -ɑːbə, -æbə

baba (plural babas)

1. A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
2. (especially among people of East European ancestry) A grandmother.
   • 1993, Karen Dubinsky, Improper Advances: Rape and Heterosexual Conflict in Ontario, 1880-1929, University of Chicago Press:

     My baba, Ksenia Dubinsky, tells me that my education makes her proud.

   • 2001, Brattleboro Remembers, edited by the Brattleboro [Vermont] Historical Society, Arcadia Publishing

     I walked first for my grandmother, and my mother was sorry she had missed my first steps. My Baba was so proud, my mother later told me.

   • 2004, MaryBeth Bond, editor, A Woman's Europe: True Stories:

     As we made eye contact, I slowly began to wonder if she was Baba. I did not know my grandmother though I'd spoken with her several times on the telephone;

3. An old woman, especially a traditional old woman from an eastern European culture.
   • 1914, Russell Sage Foundation, Wage-earning Pittsburgh:

     Only two women, typical "babas" (peasant women) in the house from which I got my quilt and bedcloth, could be coaxed to pose;

   • 1986, Janice Kulyk Keefer, The Paris-Napoli Express:

     Laura hadn't known that anyone's mother could look like that, like the babas you sometimes saw downtown, bandaged in kerchiefs and aprons, sitting toothless in stockinged feet on small verandahs, peeling potatoes or beets or just shaking their heads and grimacing.

   • 2003, Colin Michael Hall, Liz Sharples, editors, Food Tourism Around The World: Development, Management and Markets:

     According to some, new volunteers are becoming more difficult to recruit and there are dark suggestions that 'money is being made on the backs of the babas', the dedicated, but ageing ladies who still spend countless hours of their time preparing foodstuffs for the occasion.

4. (especially among people of Indian or Chinese ancestry) A father.
   • 1849, Edward Bulwer Lytton, The Caxtons:

     The first time I signed my exercise I wrote "Pisistratus Caxton" in my best round-hand. "And dey call your baba a scholar!" said the Doctor, contemptuously.

   • 1998, Mulan (movie)

     "The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter. I've missed you so." "I've missed you too, baba."

   • 2002, Bend It Like Beckham (movie)

     Okay. Okay. Fine, baba. Let's just do it before something else goes wrong.

   • 2003, House of Sand and Fog (movie)

     "Do not be disrespectful, son. Look at me." "Baba, were you a Savaki?"

5. (Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism) A holy man, a spiritual leader.
   • 1995, Hugh J.M. Johnston, Tara Singh Bains, The Four Quarters of the Night: The Life-Journey of an Emigrant Sikh:

     While I was in Port Alberni, three babas came to Canada to raise money ...

   • 2004, Andrew Robinson, Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye: The Biography of a Master Film-Maker:

     But according to Ray, 'all the babas my uncle knew were genuine. None of them was exposed. They were fairly humble people, not show-offs like the Maharishi ...

   • 2006, Suraiya Faroqhi, Subjects Of The Sultan: Culture And Daily Life In The Ottoman Empire:

     Most babas had little contact with written culture and are not therefore named in books and treatises.

6. (British India) A baby, child.
   • 1876, Sir George Otto Trevelyan, The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay:

     That is to say, if I do not take care, I shall go on calling my darling 'Baba' till she is as old as her mamma, and has a dozen Babas of her own.

   • 1904, Rudyard Kipling, Traffics and Discoveries:

     For my child is dead—my baba is dead!

7. In baby talk, often used for a variety of words beginning with b, such as bottle or blanket.
   • 2004, House (TV, episode 1.14)

     Oh, it's storytime! Let me get my baba.

• baba au rhum
• rhumbaba, rum baba
• baba ganoush
• babushka

•   baba on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• ABBA, AABB, Abba, abba

• Audio:

  (file)

baba (plural babas)

1. baby

• babetjie

baba (present baba, present participle babaende, past participle gebaba)

1. to treat with gentle care, to coddle

From Ottoman Turkish بابا (baba), whence Turkish baba.

• IPA^(key): /baˈba/

babá m (plural baballárë, definite babái)

1. dad, father

   Synonyms: bábë, átë

• Baba Dimri

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaba/

bába

1. inflection of bábë:
   1. definite nominative singular
   2. indefinite nominative/accusative plural

• IPA^(key): /baba/

baba (Bengali script বাবা)

1. father
2. paternal uncle
3. son

(father):

• awa
• wa•

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): [bɑˈbɑ]
• Hyphenation: ba‧ba

• Audio (Baku):

  (file)

baba (definite accusative babanı, plural babalar)

1. grandfather

   Coordinate term: nənə

2. term of address for old men

From Proto-Basque, ultimately from Latin faba.

• IPA^(key): /baba/, [ba.β̞a]

• Audio:

  (file)

baba inan

1. broad bean
2. bean, green bean

   Synonym: babarrun

3. blister

• “baba”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
• “baba”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *babaq, from Proto-Austronesian *babaq.

• Hyphenation: ba‧ba
• IPA^(key): /baˈbaʔ/ [baˈbaʔ]

babâ (Basahan spelling ᜊᜊ)

1. downstairs

   Antonym: taas

babâ (Basahan spelling ᜊᜊ)

1. shortness, lowness (based on height)

   Antonym: langkaw

2. (dialectal) bottom; below

   Antonym: babaw

3. descent

   Synonym: palos

4. disembarkment

   Synonym: lusad

5. act of going downstairs

   Synonym: hilig

6. decrease; lowering of quantity or measurement

   Synonym: ina

• Hyphenation: ba‧ba
• IPA^(key): /ˈbabaʔ/ [ˈba.baʔ]

babà (Basahan spelling ᜊᜊ)

1. (anatomy) chin

   Synonym: kuko

From padaba (“loved one, term of endearment”).

• Hyphenation: ba‧ba
• IPA^(key): /ˈbabaʔ/ [ˈba.baʔ]

babà (Basahan spelling ᜊᜊ)

1. (Tabaco–Legazpi–Sorsogon, slang) loved one

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *baqbaq.

First attested in Antonio Pigafetta's Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo—detailing the first circumnavigation of the world between 1519 and 1522.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaʔba/ [ˈbaʔ.bɐ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Hyphenation: ba‧ba

bâbâ (Badlit spelling ᜊᜊ)

1. (anatomy) mouth
2. mouth of a river
3. outlet; aperture; orifice
4. talk; empty boasting, promises or claims

bâbâ (Badlit spelling ᜊᜊ)

1. to hit, be hit or injured in the mouth

Compare abaga.

• IPA^(key): /baˈba/ [bɐˈba]
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: ba‧ba

babá (Badlit spelling ᜊᜊ)

1. to piggyback; to carry someone on the back

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:baba.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• Hyphenation: ba‧ba

baba

1. father
2. dad

• “baba”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

 

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:

baba

Wikipedia ^cs

• bába

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *baba.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbaba]
• Rhymes: -aba

baba f

1. crone, hag
2. coward, milksop

   Synonym: zbabělec

3. (informal) girl, chick

• “baba”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “baba” in Akademický slovník současné češtiny, 2012–2024, slovnikcestiny.cz
• “baba”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Unknown.

baba (plural babanima)

1. Title of the second chief butcher

baba

1. plural of babli (a featherless fowl)

baba

1. Father

baba

1. termite, white ant^[1]

From Zulu ubaba, from Proto-Bantu *bààbá.

baba

1. father

From Polish baba, probably via French.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɑbɑ/, [ˈbɑ̝bɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑbɑ
• Hyphenation^(key): ba‧ba

baba

1. baba, babka (type of cake)

• “baba”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

• IPA^(key): /ba.ba/

Borrowed from Polish baba, introduced in France in the eighteenth century at the court of Stanisław Leszczyński, king of Poland, duke of Lorraine and father-in-law of Louis XV.

 

baba m (plural babas)

1. baba (type of cake)

   baba au rhum ― rum baba

Onomatopoeic.

baba (plural babas)

1. (colloquial) flabbergasted
   • 1999, Anna Gavalda, “Ambre”, in Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part, →ISBN:

     C’était un Argentin qui mesurait au moins deux mètres, il souriait tout les temps. J’étais baba devant ses tatouages.

     He was an Argentinian who was at least six foot six. He was always smiling. I was stunned by his tattoos.

• “baba”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Attested since the 18th century. From the hypothesized Vulgar Latin *baba, ultimately imitative of children speech on the pattern of the repeated syllable ba.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbaβɐ]

baba f (plural babas)

1. drool

   Synonym: baballa

2. slime (mucus-like substance which exudes from the bodies of certain animals)

   Synonyms: baballa, limo

• baballa
• babar
• babexar

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “baba”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “baba”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “baba”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

baba

1. inflection of babar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Likely from Bengali বাবা (baba).

baba

1. father

• paa
• pagipa
• apa

A link of the term with the English bye-bye is possible but not certain.

• IPA^(key): /baˈbaː/, (Austria) [b̥aˈb̥aː]
• Rhymes: -aː

baba

1. (informal, Austria) bye-bye, see you, so long

• Especially in East Austria, baba is the most commonly used informal term for saying "goodbye".

• “baba” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “baba (Abschiedsgruß)” in Duden online

From Turkish baba.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaba/

baba (indeclinable, predicative only)

1. (slang) boss, rad, fly

   Synonyms: Bombe, geisteskrank

   Diese Jacke sieht richtig baba aus.

   This jacket looks bare nang.

   Ich finde den Schnitt baba.

   I deem the fit thrilling.

A widespread areal word.

• IPA^(key): /bàː.bá/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [bàː.bə́]

bā̀ba m (possessed form bā̀ban)

1. father
2. Used as a term of address for a man of appropriate age to be one's father, or who shares one's father's name.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /bàː.báː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [bàː.báː]

bā̀bā m (plural bā̀bànni, possessed form bā̀ban)

1. eunuch
2. impotent man

Probably an early borrowing from Kanuri báwà (“paternal aunt”).

• IPA^(key): /báː.bà/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [báː.bə̀]

bābà f (possessed form bābàr̃)

1. paternal aunt

• Hausa vocabulary. In: Haspelmath, M. & Tadmor, U. (eds.) World Loanword Database. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /báː.báː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [báː.báː]

bābā m (possessed form bāban)

1. indigo (the plant, or the dye from it)

baba

1. mouth

bába or bâbâ

1. mouth

Onomatopoeic.^[1] It may be a doublet of báb.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɒbɒ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ba‧ba
• Rhymes: -bɒ

baba (plural babák)

1. doll (toy in the form of a human)
2. baby, infant (very young human child, particularly from birth until walking is mastered)

   Synonyms: csecsemő, kisbaba, bébi

3. (in the possessive, folk songs) baby, darling (term of endearment for a girlfriend, or less often, a boyfriend)

   Synonyms: kedves, (also in the possessive) pár

baba (comparative babább, superlative legbabább)

1. (slang) swell, neat (exceptionally good, pleasing or enjoyable)

• baba in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• baba in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *babaq.

• Hyphenation: ba‧ba
• IPA^(key): /baˈba/, [bɐˈba]

baba

1. below

   Adda idiay baba

   It's down there.

 

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

baba

Wikipedia ^id

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.ba/
• Rhymes: -ba, -a
• Hyphenation: ba‧ba

Borrowed from Betawi [Term?].

baba (plural baba-baba, first-person possessive babaku, second-person possessive babamu, third-person possessive babanya)

1. father

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

baba (plural baba-baba, first-person possessive babaku, second-person possessive babamu, third-person possessive babanya)

1. (nautical) rat

Cognate of Cebuano babá (“to piggyback”).

baba

1. to piggyback: to carry someone on the back

• “baba” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

baba

1. Rōmaji transcription of ばば

baba m

1. father

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *baba.

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.ba/
• Rhymes: -aba
• Syllabification: ba‧ba

baba f

1. (colloquial, derogatory) woman, wife
2. (humorous) Synonym of akùszerka (“accoucheuse, midwife”)

• Stefan Ramułt (1893) “baba”, in Słownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego (in Kashubian), page 4
• Sychta, Bernard (1967) “baba”, in Słownik gwar kaszubskich [Dictionary of Kashubian dialects] (in Polish), volumes 1 (A – Ǵ), Wrocław: Ossolineum, page 9
• Jan Trepczyk (1994) “baba”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “baba”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[2]
• “baba”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

• baaba

• IPA^(key): /βàːβǎꜜ/

The first a is pronounced long.^[1]

As for Tonal Class, Benson (1964) classifies this term into Class 6 with a disyllabic stem, together with mũgwacĩ, nyamũ, and so on.

• (Kiambu)

• (Limuru) As for Tonal Class, Yukawa (1981) classifies this term into a group including guka, gũtũ, mũguĩ, mũtwe, nyamũ, ruo, rũhĩ (pl. hĩ), rũkũ (pl. ngũ), taata (“my aunt”), ũta (pl. mota), ũthiũ (pl. mothiũ), and so on.^[2]

• (Ndia) The same underlying pattern as that of rũhĩ and mothiũ.^[3]
• (Nyeri) The same underlying pattern as that of mothiũ and ruo.^[3]

baba class 1

1. my father, dad

• (thy) thoguo; (his/her) ithe

Borrowed from a Slavic language, from Proto-Slavic *baba. Doublet of buoba.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbaba]
• Hyphenation: ba‧ba

baba f (diminutive babeņa)

1. grandmother

• (dialectal) vace

• dzeds (“grandfather”)

• A. Andronov, L. Leikuma (2008) Latgalīšu-Latvīšu-Krīvu sarunu vuordineica, Lvava, →ISBN, page 10

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *baba.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaba/

baba f (diminutive babka)

1. midwife
2. old woman
3. woman

baba f (diminutive babka)

1. sponge cake

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “baba”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999) “baba”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

baba

1. father

• (Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /babə/
• (Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /baba/
• Rhymes: -abə, -bə, -ə

Voiced bapa.

baba (Jawi spelling باب, plural baba-baba, informal 1st possessive babaku, 2nd possessive babamu, 3rd possessive babanya)

1. father (male parent)

• bapa (bapanda, bapai, bapak, bapang, papa)
• ayah (ayahanda, aya, yah)
• abah (aba, bah)
• rama

Possibly borrowed from Persian بابا (bâbâ). See Baba (honorific).

• babah

baba (Jawi spelling باب, plural baba-baba, informal 1st possessive babaku, 2nd possessive babamu, 3rd possessive babanya)

1. A colonial Straits-born European, Eurasian, or Chinese man (as opposed to immigrant Chinese or European males)
2. (archaic) Respectful term of address for a Portuguese gentleman

• Baba

• “baba” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901) “باب baba”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, pages 72-73
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “baba”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume II, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 59

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *babaq.

baba

1. below

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *baqbaq.

baba

1. mouth

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *baba, compare Malay bawa.

baba

1. to carry

• (phonetic) IPA^(key): [pˠɑːbˠɑ], (enunciated) [pˠɑ pˠɑ]
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /pˠæɰpˠæɰ/
• Bender phonemes: {bahbah}

baba

1. father
2. daddy

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

baba

1. father

   La katskats tasàk à kəslah iyaw aŋatà à ahəŋ la baba aŋatà gà, tanəfà Yesu. (Mata 4:22)

   And immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus. (Matthew 4:22)

• wawa

From Proto-Bantu *bààbá.

baba class 1a (plural wababa)

1. father

From Assamese বাবা (baba, “father”), Inherited from Ashokan Prakrit *𑀩𑀸𑀩𑁆𑀩 (*bābba).

baba (plural babakhan)

1. father, dad

   Synonym: bap

From Assamese বাবা (baba, “father”), from Ashokan Prakrit *𑀩𑀸𑀩𑁆𑀩 (*bābba).

baba

1. father, dad

baba

1. water
2. rain, rainwater

• Aboriginal Languages of the Pilbara: Ngarluma (1990); HG

• IPA^(key): /babaʔ/

baba (plural ababa)

1. termite

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈbaba/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈbaba/

baba f

1. Alternative form of bába

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “baba”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *baba. First attested in 1393.

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /baba/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /baba/

baba f (diminutive babka)

1. (attested in Greater Poland) grandma (parent's mother)

   Synonym: babina

   • 1888 [1393], Romuald Hube, editor, Zbiór rot przysiąg sądowych poznańskich, kościańskich, kaliskich, sieradzkich, piotrkowskich i dobrzyszyckich z końca wieku XIV i pierwszych lat wieku XV‎^[3], Greater Poland, page 67:

     Meczko bliszszi po swe babe ku te dzedzine

     [Miec(z)ko bliższy po swe babie ku te dziedzinie]

2. The meaning of this term is uncertain.
   • 1868 [1472], Akta grodzkie i ziemskie z czasów Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej : z archiwum tak zwanego bernardyńskiego we Lwowie w skutek fundacyi śp. Alexandra hr. Stadnickiego‎^[4], volume XII, page 347:

     Que sibi cessit post matrem suam al. po babye

     [Que sibi cessit post matrem suam al. po babie]

3. (attested in Greater Poland) grandma (any old woman)
   • 1930 [c. 1455], “Gen”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^[5], 18, 13:

     Dopyoro bødø rodzycz, yusz bødøczi babø (num vere paritura sum anus)?

     [Dopioro będę rodzić już będęcy babą (num vere paritura sum anus)?]

   • c. 1500, Wokabularz lubiński, Lubiń: inkunabuł Archiwum Archidiecezjalnego w Gnieźnie, sygn. Inc. 78d., page 11r:

     Anus eyn weyp vel culus; versus: dum se curuat anus bąba, retro sibi sibilat anus - posterior pars alterius rzycz

     [Anus eyn weyp vel culus; versus: dum se curuat anus baba, retro sibi sibilat anus - posterior pars alterius rzyć]

4. (attested in Greater Poland) woman
   • 1907 [c. 1470], Jakub Parkoszowic, edited by Jan Łoś, Traktat o ortografii polskiej‎^[6], Żurawica, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Krakow, page 404:

     Babø bik bodze

     [Babę byk bodzie]

   • 1895 [1412], Archiwum Komisji Prawniczej. Collectanea ex Archivo Collegii Iuridici‎^[7], volume X, page 347:

     Baba stara

     [Baba stara]

5. midwife
   • Middle of the 15th century, Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎^[8], page 63:

     Jozef... wyszedł barzo rącze, chcąc wezwać... baby albo panie (obstetrices cupiens vocare)

     [Jozef... wyszedł barzo rącze, chcąc wezwać... baby albo panie (obstetrices cupiens vocare)]

6. pear (Pyrus communis)
   • 1900 [1472], Józef Rostafiński, editor, Symbola ad historiam naturalem medii aevi = Średniowieczna historya naturalna w Polsce. Ps 2‎^[9], number 206:

     Baba pira

     [Baba pira]

7. (attested in Sieradz-Łęczyca) (in the plural, astronomy) Pleiades
   • 1874-1891 [1466], Rozprawy i Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Wydziału Filologicznego Akademii Umiejętności‎^{[10], [11], [12]}, volume XXII, Łęczyca, page 22:

     Baby pliades

     [Baby pliades]

8. Corruption of the proper noun Bala.
   • 1930 [c. 1455], “Gen”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^[13], 35, 22:

     Spal z zonø otcza swego, ktoreyze to Baba rzekla (dormivit cum Bala)

     [Spał z żoną otca swego, ktorejże to Baba rzeczono (dormivit cum Bala)]

• Polish: baba
• Silesian: baba

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “baba”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Mańczak, Witold (2017) “baba”, in Polski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “baba”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• Sławski, Franciszek (1958-1965) “baba”, in Jan Safarewicz, Andrzej Siudut, editors, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), Kraków: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “baba”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
• Ewa Deptuchowa, Mariusz Frodyma, Katarzyna Jasińska, Magdalena Klapper, Dorota Kołodziej, Mariusz Leńczuk, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, editors (2023), “baba”, in Rozariusze z polskimi glosami. Internetowa baza danych [Dictionaries of Polish glosses, an Internet database] (in Polish), Kraków: Pracownia Języka Staropolskiego Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Borrowed from Betawi [Term?].

baba

1. greetings for Chinese people (male)

From Proto-Bantu *-bába.

-baba

1. to taste bitter

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

 

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

baba

Wikipedia ^pl

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aba
• Syllabification: ba‧ba

Inherited from Old Polish baba.

baba f (diminutive babka or babcia, augmentative babsko or babisko)

1. (colloquial, somewhat derogatory) woman, crone, hag (female person)
2. (colloquial or dialectal, Far Masovian) wife, girlfriend (female romantic partner)
3. village woman (woman from the village)

   Synonyms: chłopka, wieśniaczka

4. (childish) grandmother

   Synonyms: babcia, babka, babunia

5. village seller (woman who sells things from the village)
6. (derogatory) pansy, big girl's blouse (male of weak or cowardly character)
7. babka (type of cake)

   Synonym: babka

8. (engineering) ram (hydraulic hammer)
9. (obsolete) witch; spellcaster
10. (obsolete) female beggar (woman who begs)

    Coordinate term: dziad

11. (obsolete) midwife

    Synonyms: akuszerka, położna

12. (obsolete, dialectal, agriculture) large sheaf of strangely decorated grain tied at the end of a harvest
13. (obsolete, dialectal, spinning) thick, round part attached to a screw next to a stool of a spinning wheel (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)
14. (obsolete, dialectal) bunch of rags placed on a stick to block the lower outlet of a chimney above a fireplace
15. (obsolete, timber rafting) wooden block carved in the shape of a human head given to new rafters to kiss by rafters who are helping the new rafters with the rafting for the first time
16. (obsolete, fishing) narrow barrel with a pole through it, used for winding a seine line while fishing (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)
17. (obsolete, sports) starting peg (peg that starts a game of croquet)
18. (obsolete, engineering) oak block with a handle used for tamping when laying stones, spreading gravel on road surfaces, etc. (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)
19. (obsolete, art) leather pillow for applying paint in manual printing of canvases
20. (obsolete) female hireling; female worker
21. (obsolete) female pimp

    Synonym: stręczycielka

22. (obsolete) snowwoman

    Synonym: bałwanica

23. (obsolete) bogie (booger)

    Synonym: babok

24. (obsolete) bundle of hay used as a blockade for dangerous passages
25. (obsolete) rag on a stick or pole for sweeping
26. (obsolete) wooden mold for ironing clothes
27. (obsolete, sailing) boathook
28. (obsolete, sailing) knot on a mast twist that raftsmen can't undo
29. (obsolete, hunting) Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)

    Synonym: sójka

30. (obsolete) type of wild duck
31. (obsolete, university slang, games) leather ball
32. (obsolete) pelican (seabird of the family Pelecanidae)

    Synonym: pelikan

33. (obsolete) any of various freshwater sculpins of the genus Cottus

    Synonym: głowacz

34. (obsolete) tuna (fish of the genus Thunnus)

    Synonym: tuńczyk

35. (Middle Polish) female mourner, griever (woman who cries over someone's death at a funeral)

    Synonym: płaczka

36. (Middle Polish) whipping block
37. (Middle Polish) common pear, (Pyrus communis)
38. (Middle Polish) cannon; gun

    Synonyms: armata, działo

39. (Middle Polish, chess) queen

    Synonyms: dama, hetman, królowa

40. (Middle Polish) quack; herbalist (woman who heals with herbs, especially incompetently)