ayah

English

Etymology 1

From various Indian languages (e.g. Hindi आया (āyā, dry nurse, nanny)), from Portuguese aia (nurse, governess), from Latin avia (grandmother).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aɪ.ə/, /ˈɑjə/

Noun

ayah (plural ayahs)

  1. A South Asian female servant, maid or nanny, historically, often one working for Europeans in South Asia.
    • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “Watches of the Night”, in Plain Tales from the Hills (fiction):
      She manufactured the Station scandal, and talked to her ayah.
    • 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel, New York: Arcade Publishing, published 2011, Book 4:
      [] a cot of iron had to be manufactured for [Bhim] after he had demolished two wooden cribs with a lusty kick of his foot; and a succession of bruised ayahs had finally to be replaced by a male attendant, a former Hastinapur all-in wrestling champion.
See also

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic آيَة (ʔāya, sign, token).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈaɪ.(j)ɑ/, /aɪ.ə/

Noun

ayah (plural ayahs or ayat)

  1. (Islam) A verse in the Quran.
    Synonym: ayat
Alternative forms
Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

Indonesian

Etymology

From Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aya₂ (father’s sister, father’s sister’s husband), from Proto-Austronesian *aya₂.[1][2]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a.jah/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: a‧yah

Noun

ayah (first-person possessive ayahku, second-person possessive ayahmu, third-person possessive ayahnya)

  1. (formal) father (male parent)
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ayah

Derived terms

See also

References

  1. Robert Blust; David F. Aberle; N. J. Allen; R. H. Barnes; Ann Chowning (1980-04-01), “Early Austronesian Social Organization: The Evidence of Language [and Comments and Reply]”, in Current Anthropology, volume 21, issue 2, →DOI, →ISSN, page 205–247
  2. Robert Blust (1993), “Austronesian sibling terms and culture history”, in Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, volume 149, issue 1, →DOI, →ISSN, page 22–76

Further reading

Malay

Pronunciation

  • (Johor-Selangor, Riau-Lingga) IPA(key): [a.jah], /ajah/
  • Rhymes: -ajah, -jah, -ah
  • (file)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aya (father’s sister, father’s sister’s husband), from Proto-Austronesian *aya.

Noun

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

  1. (formal, polite) father (male parent)
    Synonyms: abah, bapa, rama
    Ayah DanielDaniel's father
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
  • Peranakan Indonesian: ajah

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Hindi आया (āyā), from Portuguese aia.

Noun

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

  1. (dated) nursemaid, usually one of Indian ancestry

See also

Further reading

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