amba

Borrowed from Amharic ዐምባ (ʿämba).

amba (plural ambas)

1. A characteristic landform in Ethiopia: a steep-sided, flat-topped mountain, often the site of a settlement.

From Arabic عَمْبَة (ʕamba) and Hebrew עמבה; ultimately from Sanskrit आम्र (āmra).

amba (uncountable)

2. A blended mash of mainly pickled mango, used as a side dish or condiment.

• AABM, AMAB, BAAM, BMAA, Bama, MAAB, bama

• IPA^(key): /am.baʔ/

amba (Badlit spelling ᜀᜋ᜔ᜊ)

1. lowing or mooing sound of cattle
2. a title of respect for an older man; sir; mister
   • 2026 January 25, Jes B. Tirol, “PAGTUKIB 288: Mga Pulong Binisayâ Nga Nawaní Na”, in The Bohol Tribune‎^[1]:

     Ang tumbas sa Sir sa Binisayâ mao ang “Amba” ug ang tumbas sa Ma'am mao ang “Ana”. Kini gigamit alang sa mga magtutudlò.

     The equivalent of Sir in Bisayâ is “Amba” and the equivalent of Ma'am is “Ana”. These are used for teachers.

amba (Badlit spelling ᜀᜋ᜔ᜊ)

1. to moo, low as of cattle

• inga

ámba

1. chant, sing

• IPA^(key): /ˈampa/

  Rhymes: -ampa

amba f (genitive singular ömbu, nominative plural ömbur)

1. alternative form of amaba

• IPA^(key): /ˈam.ba/
• Rhymes: -amba
• Hyphenation: àm‧ba

Borrowed from Amharic አምባ (ʾämba).

amba f (plural ambe)

1. (geology) a characteristic landform in Ethiopia, consisting of a steep-sided, flat-topped mountain

amba f (plural ambe)

1. (usually in the plural) circumlocution, periphrasis

   Synonyms: (formal) circonlocuzione, (colloquial) giro di parole, perifrasi

• amba in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• amba in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication

amba

1. romanization of ꦲꦩ꧀ꦧ

amba

1. plural of uwa

• Roger Blench, The Anib (=Kanufi) language of Central Nigeria and its affinities, page 3, 2011

From Proto-Bantu *-bàmba (“to stretch and peg a hide”).

• IPA^(key): /aᵐba/

amba (infinitive kwamba)

1. to peg (out), to pitch
2. to stretch out
3. to do first

• kwambata

• mwambato class 3

• kwambĩrĩria

• kĩambĩrĩria class 7
• mwambĩrĩrio class 3

• rwambo class 11

• rwambo rũmwe rũtiambaga ndarwa

• Armstrong, Lilias E. (1940). The Phonetic and Tonal Structure of Kikuyu, p. 360. Rep. 1967. (Also in 2018 by Routledge).
• “amba” in Benson, T.G. (1964). Kikuyu-English dictionary, p. 7. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Cognate with Lugbara àmbá.

• IPA^(key): [àᵐbá]
• Hyphenation: a‧mba

ãmbá (plural amba)

2. old, elderly

ãmbá (plural amba)

2. elder, old person

• IPA^(key): [āᵐbā]
• Hyphenation: a‧mba

amba

2. plural of ãmbá

amba

2. plural of ãmbá

• Mairi Blackings; Nigel Fabb (2003), A Grammar of Ma'di, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 221

amba

1. romanization of ᠠᠮᠪᠠ

• IPA^(key): /amba/

amba

1. actually

Unknown, probably *ba +‎ aN- as Proto-Mon-Khmer *wah~*lwah (“wide”).

amba

1. broad, wide

• Javanese: ꦲꦩ꧀ꦧ (amba, “wide”)

amba

1. vegetables, condiments with a meat-dish

• "amba" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

From Sanskrit आम्र (āmra).

amba m

1. the mango tree, Mangifera indica

amba n

1. the mango fruit

• ambaphala (“mango fruit”)
• ambavana (“mango grove”)

• Pali Text Society (1921–1925), “amba”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead

amba

1. vocative singular of ambā (“mummy”)

Inherited from Proto-Sabaki *-amba, from Proto-Bantu *-gàmba (“to speak, to answer”). Cognate with Tooro -gamba and Zulu -amba.

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

amba-

1. which; who (relative pronoun)
   • 18th century, Abdallah bin Ali bin Nasir, Al-Inkishafi‎^[2], translation from R. Allen (1946), “Inkishafi—a translation from the Swahili”, in African Studies, volume 5, number 4, →DOI, pages 243–249, stanza 6:

     نِيَضِهِرِشِ يَغُ مَقَالِ ، اَبَيُ مُيُوْنِ نِقُصُدِيِ

     Niyaḍihirishe yangu maqali, ambayo moyoni niquṣudiye.

     Let me set forth the plan which I have in my heart.

-amba (infinitive kwamba)

1. to say, to explain

Conjugation of -amba
Positive present -naamba Subjunctive -ambe Negative -ambi Imperative singular amba
Infinitives
Positive kwamba kuamba Negative kutoamba
Imperatives
Singular amba Plural ambeni
Tensed forms
Habitual huamba Positive past positive subject concord + -liamba Negative past negative subject concord + -kuamba
Positive present (positive subject concord + -naamba) Singular Plural 1st person ninaamba/naamba tunaamba 2nd person unaamba mnaamba 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anaamba wanaamba other classes positive subject concord + -naamba
Negative present (negative subject concord + -ambi) Singular Plural 1st person siambi hatuambi 2nd person huambi hamwambi 3rd person m-wa(I/II) haambi hawaambi other classes negative subject concord + -ambi
Positive future positive subject concord + -taamba Negative future negative subject concord + -taamba
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -ambe) Singular Plural 1st person niambe tuambe 2nd person uambe mwambe 3rd person m-wa(I/II) aambe waambe other classes positive subject concord + -ambe
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -siambe Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngeamba Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singeamba Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngaliamba Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singaliamba
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -aamba) Singular Plural 1st person naamba twaamba 2nd person waamba mwaamba 3rd person m-wa(I/II) aamba waamba m-mi(III/IV) waamba yaamba ji-ma(V/VI) laamba yaamba ki-vi(VII/VIII) chaamba vyaamba n(IX/X) yaamba zaamba u(XI) waamba see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwaamba pa(XVI) paamba mu(XVIII) mwaamba
Perfect positive subject concord + -meamba "Already" positive subject concord + -meshaamba "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jaamba "If/When" positive subject concord + -kiamba "If not" positive subject concord + -sipoamba Consecutive kaamba / positive subject concord + -kaamba Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -kaambe
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -niamba -tuamba 2nd person -kuamba -waamba/-kuambeni/-waambeni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -mwamba -waamba m-mi(III/IV) -uamba -iamba ji-ma(V/VI) -liamba -yaamba ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kiamba -viamba n(IX/X) -iamba -ziamba u(XI) -uamba see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kuamba pa(XVI) -paamba mu(XVIII) -muamba Reflexive -jiamba
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -amba- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -ambaye -ambao m-mi(III/IV) -ambao -ambayo ji-ma(V/VI) -ambalo -ambayo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -ambacho -ambavyo n(IX/X) -ambayo -ambazo u(XI) -ambao see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -ambako pa(XVI) -ambapo mu(XVIII) -ambamo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -amba) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yeamba -oamba m-mi(III/IV) -oamba -yoamba ji-ma(V/VI) -loamba -yoamba ki-vi(VII/VIII) -choamba -vyoamba n(IX/X) -yoamba -zoamba u(XI) -oamba see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -koamba pa(XVI) -poamba mu(XVIII) -moamba
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.

• Verbal derivations:
  • Applicative: -ambia
  • Causative: -ambisha
  • Passive: -ambwa, -ambiwa
  • Stative: -ambika

• Nominal derivations:
  • chambo
  • jambo

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔamˈbaʔ/ [ʔɐmˈbaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: am‧ba

ambâ (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜋ᜔ᜊ)

1. uncle

   Synonyms: tito, tiyo, tiyuhin, tiyong, amain, (slang) tsong

2. (dialectal) grandfather

   Synonym: lolo

• ba — clipping

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔamˈbaʔ/ [ʔɐmˈbaʔ], (nonstandard) /ʔamˈba/ [ʔɐmˈba]
• Rhymes: -aʔ, (nonstandard) -a
• Syllabification: am‧ba

ambâ or ambá (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜋ᜔ᜊ)

1. threatening gesture

   Synonyms: yamba, akma

• “amba”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-jàmba.

-amba (infinitive kwamba)

1. to begin, to commence

• -amba mwampu
• ciyambo

• Wm. Y. Turner, Tumbuka/Tonga-English and English-Tumbuka/Tonga Dictionary, 1996

From Proto-Bantu *-gàmba (“to speak, to answer”).

amba

1. to speak

From Proto-Bantu *-gàmba (“to speak, to answer”).

-amba

1. to be sarcastic

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “amba”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “amba (6.6-3)”