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  • ama
    ama
    noun
    a Japanese diver, usually a woman, who tends underwater oyster beds used in the cultivation of pearls.
  • -ama
    -ama
    variant of -orama, occurring as the final element in compounds when the first element is a disyllable ending in - r, used so that the entire word maintains the same number of syllables as panorama .
  • A.M.A.
    A.M.A.
    abbreviation
    American Management Association.
  • AMA
    AMA
    abbreviation
    American Medical Association

ama

1 American  
[ah-mah] / ˈɑ mɑ /

noun

amas, plural ama plural
  1. a Japanese diver, usually a woman, who tends underwater oyster beds used in the cultivation of pearls.


-ama 2 American  
  1. variant of -orama, occurring as the final element in compounds when the first element is a disyllable ending in - r, used so that the entire word maintains the same number of syllables as panorama .

    rollerama; Futurama.


A.M.A. 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. American Management Association.

  2. American Medical Association.

  3. American Motorcycle Association.


AMA British  

abbreviation

  1. American Medical Association

  2. Australian Medical Association

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of ama

From Japanese, dating back to 1945–50, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

I am 60 years old, and ama server.

From MarketWatch Jun. 18, 2026

He added in the comments: "WOULDVE been the ama performance but they cancelled me for reasons unknown."

From Salon Nov. 21, 2022

Nepia, a caretaker at a Māori immersion school, is among a group of expert waka ama paddlers who have been training for the World Sprint Champs in Britain.

From Seattle Times Aug. 14, 2022

The expression "chi morta ancor m' ama" is sufficient to refute this singular supposition.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 373, November 1846 by Various

Analogous to this we have in the Kafir ama marking the plural, as amakosah the plural of kosah, amahashe the plural of ihashe, insana the plural of usana.

From History of the Negro Race in America From 1619 to 1880. Vol 1 Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens by Williams, George Washington

Getting A.I. oversight right in medicine, a task that involves several agencies, is critical, said Dr. Ehrenfeld, the A.M.A. president.

From New York Times Oct. 30, 2023

Last month, the A.M.A. released the results of a survey of 1,000 people about the Cures Act’s provision on test results.

From New York Times Oct. 3, 2022

Between its restrictions on medical education and its exclusionary membership, the A.M.A. played a role in cultivating the profession’s homogeneity, which it acknowledged in its 2008 statement.

From New York Times Aug. 20, 2020

The A.M.A. once represented three-fourths of all American doctors; the growth of subspecialty societies may have contributed to its diminishment.

From The New Yorker Aug. 5, 2019

In addition, the following abbreviations have been used: A.M.A.

From Sex-education A series of lectures concerning knowledge of sex in its relation to human life by Bigelow, Maurice Alpheus

“It’s really a concern about a slippery slope. Do we start here with prescriptions, then all of a sudden, is it going to lead to diagnostic tests?” said John Whyte, chief executive of the AMA.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 18, 2026

"We've had such an overwhelming response to this album," J-Hope, 32, said as they accepted the AMA.

From BBC May 26, 2026

As Cappa put it on a Reddit AMA, “The idea of a family of men who love and respect one another just seemed fun to write.”

From Salon Dec. 26, 2025

Matt Ashton:, external Founder of the AMA Sports Photo Agency, he covered eight World Cups as well as 25 Champions League finals.

From BBC Dec. 18, 2025

Gradually, perhaps under the influence of a Middle English AMA, the worm was given sole rights to the word, and the doctor became the doctor, out of dek, meaning to accept, later to teach.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Paradigm, pre-Kuhn, referred merely to an example that serves an educational purpose; amo, amas, amat, for instance, is a paradigm for teaching conjugations in Latin.

From Scientific American May 23, 2012

Layoff, to a govt. worker 43. __, amas, amat 44.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Amo, amas, you know, and runnin’ about like hooligans: what would you advise?”

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

“Grace and I are just friends, Kojo. And ‘amo, amas, amat’ is Latin, not Spanish, although Spanish is considered one of the romance languages.”

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Example.—Ju pli mi lin konas, des pli mi lin amas = The more I know him, the more I love him.

From The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Grammar and Commentary by Cox, George

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