amah

Where does the word "amah" come from? It comes from Portuguese ama, and was adopted directly into English (1800s).

Amah’s story begins in Portuguese: ama meant “wet nurse.” 'wet nurse', probably from the nursery word amma 'mother' found in Medieval Latin; Portuguese families in Macau used it for local nursemaids. It reached English by 1800s as amah. Used across British East Asia; from the 1930s many Hong Kong amahs were 'majie', sworn spinsters from Shunde's silk districts who moved into domestic service after the silk industry collapsed. Today, amah means a nursemaid or domestic servant in East or South Asia.

1. Stage 1 · Portuguese · 1500s ama "wet nurse", 'wet nurse', probably from the nursery word amma 'mother' found in Medieval Latin; Portuguese families in Macau used it for local nursemaids.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1800s amah "nursemaid, housemaid", used across British East Asia; from the 1930s many Hong Kong amahs were 'majie', sworn spinsters from Shunde's silk districts who moved into domestic service after the silk industry collapsed.