ayah

[ ah-yuh ]

/ ˈɑ yə /

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noun

(in India) a native maid or nurse.

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SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

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Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

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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

Words nearby ayah

axseed, ax to grind, Axum, ay, Ayacucho, ayah, ayahuasca, Ayana, Ayande, ayatollah, Ayckbourn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use ayah in a sentence

Ayah Abu Basheer is a lecturer at the Islamic University in Gaza City.
Still Not Rebuilt From Last Time|Anna Lekas Miller|November 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The day before the steamer reached Southampton, Mamma asked her if she would not like to see the ayah again.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
That is her Ayah, who comes up from behind at a pace so different from her youthful mistress's.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. 357, July 1845|Various
All, that is, save Nina's ayah, who opportunely produced a bottle of smelling-salts and passed it to the mem-sahib.
The Tigress|Anne Warner

It was the next morning, and Nina's ayah sat on a chair in the passage, guarding the door of her mistress's room.
The Tigress|Anne Warner
When Colonel Darling returned from parade the ayah was gone from the passage-way outside his wife's room.
The Tigress|Anne Warner

British Dictionary definitions for ayah

ayah

/ (ˈaɪə) /

noun

(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

Word Origin for ayah

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

ayah

Origin of ayah

Words nearby ayah

Words related to ayah

How to use ayah in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ayah

Word Origin for ayah