ayah
[ah-yuh]
- (in India) a native maid or nurse.
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Origin of ayah
1775–85; < Hindi āyā < Portuguese aia maidservant < Latin avia grandmother, equivalent to av(us) grandfather + -ia feminine suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ayah
Contemporary Examples
Ayah Abu Basheer is a lecturer at the Islamic University in Gaza City.
Historical Examples
They had been happy, Ayah said, with the kind lady and her children.
Jan and Her JobL. Allen Harker
Ayah might not be exactly beautiful, but she was harmonious.
Jan and Her JobL. Allen Harker
Ayah and little Fay were in the nursery across the passage, where there was a fire.
Jan and Her JobL. Allen Harker
Since the night of Ayah's departure there had not been such a scene.
Jan and Her JobL. Allen Harker
To the right you may observe an Ayah spoiling some young Britons.
From Edinburgh to India & BurmahWilliam G. Burn Murdoch
ayah
- (in the East, Africa, and other parts of the former British Empire) a maidservant, nursemaid, or governess, esp one of Indian or Malay originCompare amah
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Word Origin
C18: from Hindi āyā, from Portuguese aia, from Latin avia grandmother
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ayah
n.
"native nurse, children's governess," Anglo-Indian, 1782, from Portuguese aia, cognate with Spanish aya, Italian aja, etc., "nurse," from Latin avia "grandmother," fem. of avus "grandfather" (see uncle).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper