baba

¹ American  

[bah-buh, ba-ba] / ˈbɑ bə, baˈba /

noun

babas plural

1. a spongelike cake leavened with yeast and often containing raisins, baked in a small mold and then usually soaked with a rum syrup.

2. null Baba (especially in Slavic or Eastern European cultures) an elderly woman or grandmother.

   In our house lived my parents, my baba—God rest her soul—my three siblings, and me.

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baba ² American  

[bah-buh, bah-bah] / ˈbɑ bə, ˈbɑ bɑ /

Or Baba

noun

Indian English.

1. father (also used as a polite term of address for any older man).

   That's the second lesson my Baba taught me growing up—that consistent hard work is very important and always pays off.

2. a male spiritual leader (also used as a title with the leader’s name).

   I devoured hundreds of religious books, including those by many Hindu babas and sadhus.

   She is a devout follower of Sai Baba, a spiritual leader known for his teachings of love, compassion, and selflessness.

3. a baby or young child.

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baba British  

/ baba, ˈbɑːbɑː /

noun

1. a small cake of leavened dough, sometimes mixed with currants and usually soaked in rum ( rum baba )

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• babas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of baba¹

First recorded in 1820–30; from French, from Polish: literally, “old woman, peasant woman,” a nursery term of imitative origin ( cf. babushka ( def. ), mama ( def. )); the cake was introduced into France by the court of the exiled Polish king Stanislaus I

Origin of baba²

First recorded in 1765–75; from Hindi, Urdu bābā “father, male elder,” a nursery term of imitative origin; cf. dad ¹ ( def. ), papa ( def. )

Example Sentences

Eggplant parm, baba ghanouj, eggplant curries, eggplant rollatini — it's all so good!

From Salon • Sep. 11, 2023

In the standard Mandarin spoken in China, for instance, baba — father — is pronounced with an emphasis on the first syllable, said Hongyin Tao, a professor of Chinese language and linguistics at UCLA.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2023

The 13th edition of the cookbook, the first update since 2016, includes loaded kimchi fries as well as deviled eggs, a “classic baba ghanoush” along with a classic cheese ball.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 18, 2022

“They just make it more baba ghanouj-y,” he writes.

From Washington Post • Oct. 20, 2022

“You will make your ma and baba so proud.”

From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins