tata

Probably hypocoristic, circa 1823.

tata

1. Alternative form of ta ta.

Probably ultimately from baby-talk and related to teat, tit. Possibly borrowed through French tette, of Germanic origin, and/or Old English titt. Compare Dutch tiet and German Zitze.

• Audio (US):

  (file)

tata (plural tatas)

1. (slang) Alternative form of ta-ta (“breast”).

• atta

tata

1. paternal aunt

Greenhill, Simon (2017). "Language: Aeka". TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea. Retrieved July 7, 2017.

• IPA^(key): /tɑtɑ/

tata

1. pig

• Andy Minch. Amanab grammar essentials. 1992.

tata (past min tata, future go tata, a go tata, wi tata, wil tata, completive dun tata, imperfective a tata)

1. to stutter

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *tààtá

tata

1. dad, daddy

Compare tatay.

• Hyphenation: ta‧ta
• IPA^(key): /ˈtata/ [ˈt̪a.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -a

tata

1. a familiar address to one's father

Reduplication of ta, from initial clipping of bata.

• Hyphenation: ta‧ta
• IPA^(key): /taˈta/ [t̪ɐˈt̪a]
• Rhymes: -a

tata

1. (childish) a familiar address to a child

Compare tastas

• Hyphenation: ta‧ta
• IPA^(key): /ˈtataʔ/ [ˈt̪a.t̪ɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -a

tata

1. to wear out

• IPA^(key): /taˈta/ [taˈta]
• Hyphenation: ta‧ta

tatá (Basahan spelling ᜆᜆ)

1. (dated) door

   Synonyms: puwerta, pinto

tata

1. father.

tata

1. father

Inherited from Spanish tata (“daddy”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈtata/, [ˈt̪a.t̪a]
• Hyphenation: ta‧ta

tata

1. (Caviteño, Cotabateño, Zamboangueño) father

   Synonyms: (Caviteño) papang, (Ternateño) tay

Perhaps imitative, though compare tahtli (“father”) and Spanish taita (“dad”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈta.ta]

tata (animate)

1. A child's word for his father; dad, daddy.
   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 111v. col. 1:

     Taita. padre delos niños. tata.

     Taita. the children's father. tata.

   • Idem, f. 91r. col. 1.

     Tata. por tayta,padre [dize el niño.]

     Tata. from tayta, father, says the child.

• tahtli

• Alonso de Molina (1571), Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, Editorial Porrúa, pages 11v, 91r

tata

1. elder sister

• IPA^(key): /ta.ta/

  • Audio (France (Toulouse)):

    (file)

  • Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

    (file)

  • Audio (France (Vosges)):

    (file)

  • Audio (France):

    (file)

  • Audio (France (Vosges)):

    (file)

  • Audio (France (Lyon)):

    (file)

• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): [ta.ta]
• Homophone: tatas

Expressive reduplication of tante (“aunt”).

tata f (plural tatas)

1. (France, childish) auntie (aunt)

   Les enfants, aujourd'hui on va voir tata !

   Kids, today we're going to see auntie!

2. (France, childish, endearing) auntie (woman of an older generation than oneself)
3. (France, childish) nanny
4. (France, derogatory) homosexual (man); faggot, fag (US); poof (UK); queen

   Synonym: tante f

5. (France, derogatory) fearful, weak person

tata m (plural tatas)

1. (chiefly Quebec, Canada, informal, derogatory) imbecile, idiot, wanker, dickhead

Borrowed from English tata, ta ta.

tata m (plural tatas)

1. (Quebec, New Caledonia, childish) a wave goodbye

tata

1. (Canada, informal) goodbye

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tata

1. (Louisiana, childish) thank you
   • 2010, Albert Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French as Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities, page 604:

     Dis tata à l'homme.

     Tell the man thank you.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tata m (plural tatas)

1. tata, tata somba (historical West African fortification)
2. (by extension) enclosure resembling such a fortification

• “tata”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)

tata o (plural tataaji ɗi) (ka)

1. (Pular, Pulaar) tata (a defensive city wall)

• Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɒtɒ]
• Hyphenation: ta‧ta
• Rhymes: -tɒ

tata (plural taták)

1. (possibly offensive) uncle, old man, fogey (used to speak of or address old men humorously or disparagingly)
2. (informal, dialectal) father, dad

• tata in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈtata/ [ˈt̪a.t̪a]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ata
• Syllabification: ta‧ta

From Malay tata, from Javanese ꦠꦠ (tata), from Old Javanese tatā (“arrangement, ordering; fixed order, rule”), from Pali tathā (“in this way”), from Sanskrit तथा (tathā, “in that manner”). Doublet of titi.

tata (plural tata-tata)

1. order, arrangement

   Synonyms: susunan, tataan, tatanan

2. system

   Synonym: sistem

tata (active menata, passive ditata)

1. to organize, arrange

   Synonyms: atur, susun

2. (figurative, of a relationship) to build

   Synonyms: bangun, bina

Borrowed from Gorontalo [Term?].

tata

1. (dialect) to separate the rumbia leaves from the stems

Borrowed from Malayic Dayak [Term?] (Tamuan).

tata (plural tata-tata)

1. (dialect) initial arrangement when weaving (mat, basket, etc.)

• “tata”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

From Latin tata.

• IPA^(key): /ˈta.ta/
• Rhymes: -ata
• Hyphenation: tà‧ta

tata f (plural tate)

1. governess (or any young woman looking after children)
2. big sister
3. (regional) Form of address for an older male, especially:
   1. one's father, daddy, papa
   2. an older brother
   3. any man, especially if young, taking care of the child

• atta

tata

1. romanization of ꦠꦠ

tata

1. father

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *tààtá

tata

1. father

From Proto-Italic *tata, from Proto-Indo-European *tata-, ultimately onomatopoeic, mimicking baby talk.

Compare the similar atta, and also Cornish tat, tas, Breton tad and Breton tata, Ancient Greek τατᾶ (tatâ), τέττα (tétta), Bulgarian та́тко (tátko), Sanskrit तात (tāta), Kamkata-viri tót, tó, Tregami tát, Waigali tati.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈta.ta]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtaː.ta]

tata m (genitive tatae); first declension

1. dad, daddy, a term used by children for their father

First-declension noun.

• Eastern Romance:
  • Aromanian: tatã, tati
  • Istro-Romanian: tåtĕ
  • Megleno-Romanian: tată
  • Romanian: tată (“father, dad”)
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Dalmatian: tuota, teta
  • Italian: tata, tato
    • → Cimbrian: tatta
    • → Mòcheno: tata
  • Neapolitan: tata
  • Sicilian: tata
• Old Occitan:
  • Old Catalan: taita (“dad”)
    • Catalan: tata (“dad, brother”) (dialectal)
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansh: tat (“grandfather”) (dialectal)
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Old French: taie
• West Iberian:
  • Portuguese: tatá
  • Old Spanish: taita (“dad”)
    • Spanish: tata, tato, taita

• “tata”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "tata", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Borrowed from Kongo tata.

tata class 1 (plural batata class 2)

1. father
2. man

• (phonetics) IPA^(key): [tˠɑːdˠɑ], (enunciated) [tˠɑ tˠɑ]
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /tˠæɰtˠæɰ/
• Bender phonemes: {tahtah}

tata

1. superlative particle; most

• Abo, Takaji; Bender Byron W.; Capelle, Alfred; DeBrum, Tony (2009–), “tata”, in Marshallese–English Online Dictionary‎^[1]

• IPA^(key): /tata/

From Tamil தாத்தா (tāttā).

tata

1. grandfather

   Synonym: granper

From kaka, from French caca.

tata

1. (usually childish) poo, excrement

tata (medial form tata)

1. (usually childish) to poo, defecate

Cognate with Paraguayan Guarani tata.

tata

1. fire

From Italian tata, from Latin tata (“dad, daddy”), of onomatopoeic origin.

tata m

1. father

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien
• “tata” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

From Latin tata.

tata

1. father, dad

• papa, pate

tata

1. grandfather

From Spanish tata.

tata

1. father

• Rhymes: -a

tata

1. fire

• Canese, Natalia Krivoshein de; Alcaraz, Feliciano Acosta (2016), “tata”, in Ñe’ẽryru [Dictionary] (overall work in Spanish), Asunción: Instituto Superior de Lenguas, →ISBN, page 104, column 2

-tata

1. to hurry

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

• IPA^(key): /ˈta.ta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ata
• Syllabification: ta‧ta

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tata.

tata m pers

1. (informal) dad

   Synonyms: tato, ojciec

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

tata m pers

1. genitive/accusative singular of tato

• “tata”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “tata”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Borrowed from Spanish tata (“dad, daddy”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈta.ta/

tata

1. father

   Synonyms: yaya, tayta

   Coordinate term: mama (“mother”)

2. sir, mister

   Synonym: tayta

   Coordinate term: mama (“madam, lady”)

3. lord, and by extension God

   Synonym: (arcaic) yaya

The use of tata over tayta is chiefly South Bolivian.

• hatun tata

Compare Tagalog tatay.

tata

1. father

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *tata.

• IPA^(key): /tâta/
• Hyphenation: ta‧ta

tȁta m anim (Cyrillic spelling та̏та)

1. dad, daddy

   Synonyms: babo, ćaća, ćale, tajo

   Synonym: tatek

• “tata”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

tata (Cyrillic spelling тата)

1. genitive/accusative singular of tat

From Serbo-Croatian tata.

• IPA^(key): /tâːtḁ/

tata m

1. dad, father

• Walter Breu and Giovanni Piccoli (2000), Dizionario croato molisano di Acquaviva Collecroce: Dizionario plurilingue della lingua slava della minoranza di provenienza dalmata di Acquaviva Collecroce in Provincia di Campobasso (Parte grammaticale)., pp. 394

• IPA^(key): /ˈtata/ [ˈt̪a.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -ata
• Syllabification: ta‧ta

Borrowed from Latin tata. Compare taita.

tata m (plural tatas)

1. (colloquial, Latin America, Philippines) daddy; dad, a term used by children for their father
2. (colloquial) nanny

   Synonyms: niñera, criada

3. (colloquial, Chile, Baja California) grandfather, a term used by children for their grandfather

   Synonym: abuelo

• nana

Feminine form of tato.

tata f (plural tatas, masculine tato, masculine plural tatos)

1. (colloquial) big sister

From teta.

tata f (plural tatas)

1. (colloquial, vulgar, chiefly in the plural) breasts

• “tata”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Inherited from Proto-Sabaki *-tata, from Common Bantu *-táta. Cognate with Ilwana -t̪at̪a (“to sew”).

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

-tata (infinitive kutata)

1. to tangle

Conjugation of -tata
Positive present -natata Subjunctive -tate Negative -tati Imperative singular tata
Infinitives
Positive kutata Negative kutotata
Imperatives
Singular tata Plural tateni
Tensed forms
Habitual hutata Positive past positive subject concord + -litata Negative past negative subject concord + -kutata
Positive present (positive subject concord + -natata) Singular Plural 1st person ninatata/natata tunatata 2nd person unatata mnatata 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anatata wanatata other classes positive subject concord + -natata
Negative present (negative subject concord + -tati) Singular Plural 1st person sitati hatutati 2nd person hutati hamtati 3rd person m-wa(I/II) hatati hawatati other classes negative subject concord + -tati
Positive future positive subject concord + -tatata Negative future negative subject concord + -tatata
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -tate) Singular Plural 1st person nitate tutate 2nd person utate mtate 3rd person m-wa(I/II) atate watate other classes positive subject concord + -tate
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -sitate Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngetata Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singetata Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngalitata Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singalitata
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -atata) Singular Plural 1st person natata twatata 2nd person watata mwatata 3rd person m-wa(I/II) atata watata m-mi(III/IV) watata yatata ji-ma(V/VI) latata yatata ki-vi(VII/VIII) chatata vyatata n(IX/X) yatata zatata u(XI) watata see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwatata pa(XVI) patata mu(XVIII) mwatata
Perfect positive subject concord + -metata "Already" positive subject concord + -meshatata "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jatata "If/When" positive subject concord + -kitata "If not" positive subject concord + -sipotata Consecutive katata / positive subject concord + -katata Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -katate
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -nitata -tutata 2nd person -kutata -watata/-kutateni/-watateni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -mtata -watata m-mi(III/IV) -utata -itata ji-ma(V/VI) -litata -yatata ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kitata -vitata n(IX/X) -itata -zitata u(XI) -utata see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kutata pa(XVI) -patata mu(XVIII) -mutata Reflexive -jitata
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -tata- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -tataye -tatao m-mi(III/IV) -tatao -tatayo ji-ma(V/VI) -tatalo -tatayo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -tatacho -tatavyo n(IX/X) -tatayo -tatazo u(XI) -tatao see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -tatako pa(XVI) -tatapo mu(XVIII) -tatamo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -tata) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yetata -otata m-mi(III/IV) -otata -yotata ji-ma(V/VI) -lotata -yotata ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chotata -vyotata n(IX/X) -yotata -zotata u(XI) -otata see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kotata pa(XVI) -potata mu(XVIII) -motata
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.

• Verbal derivations:
  • Causative: -tatiza
  • Conversive: -tatua (“to untangle, to disentangle”)

• Nominal derivations:
  • matata (“trouble, problems”)
  • utata (“complication”)

tata

1. plural of utata

Possibly borrowed from Philippine Spanish tata (“daddy”), possibly imitative from baby talk. Compare Ilocano tata, Chamorro tåta, Aymara tata (“father”), Latin tata, and Classical Nahuatl tata. See also Classical Nahuatl tahtli.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈtata/ [ˈt̪aː.t̪ɐ]
• Rhymes: -ata
• Syllabification: ta‧ta

tata (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜆ)

1. (archaic) term of address used for one's father

   Synonyms: tatay, tatang, itay, tay, ama, amang, papa

2. (archaic) respectful term of address used for an older man

   Synonyms: manong, mang, mama

3. (dialectal) term of address used for an uncle

   Synonyms: tiyo, tito

• nana

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈtataʔ/ [ˈt̪aː.t̪ɐʔ], /taˈtaʔ/ [t̪ɐˈt̪aʔ]
• Rhymes: -ataʔ, -aʔ
• Syllabification: ta‧ta

tatà or tatâ (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜆ)

1. small, thin cut made on the edge of something to indicate a mark or sign (as in measuring or counting)

   Synonyms: gatgat, gatla, tiyab, gatlang

2. cut used as a foothold in climbing (made on the trunk of a tree, on a steep rock, etc.)

   Synonyms: bakat, uka, kutab

3. (obsolete) act of splitting by marking (as when one splits the husk to make a coconut a drinking vessel)
4. (obsolete) tree with several cut marks

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /taˈta/ [t̪ɐˈt̪a]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: ta‧ta

tatá (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜆ) (obsolete)

1. shriek of a mouse

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /taˈtaʔ/ [t̪ɐˈt̪aʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: ta‧ta

tatâ (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜆ) (obsolete)

1. name of the Baybayin letter ᜆ, corresponding to "ta"

• “tata”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613), Vocabulario de lengua tagala. El romance castellano puesto primero. Primera, y segunda parte.‎^[4] (overall work in Early Modern Spanish and Classical Tagalog), as directed by Gov. Gen. Juan de Silva, Pila, Laguna: La noble Villa de Pila, por Tomás Pinpin y Domingo Loag.
  • page 156: “Chillar) Tata (pc) el raton”
  • page 564: “T) Tata (pc) letra que vſa el [Tagalo en] ſu. A.b.c .|. tata yaon .|. ᜆ. gumava ca dito nang tata ſa iniong ſulat, haz aqui vna .t. de bueſtra eſcritura, ſaſa yari indi tata. s. es eſta [que no] t.”
• Serrano Laktaw, Pedro (1914), Diccionario tagálog-hispano (overall work in Tagalog and Spanish), Intramuros, Manila: Ateneo de Manila., page 1275
• Alvaina, Corazon S. (1989), Halupi: Essays on Philippine Culture, Capital Publishing House

• at-at, atat

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tata f (plural tatiwin, Tifinagh spelling ⵜⴰⵜⴰ)

1. chameleon

May be the same as the second etymology. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• IPA^(key): [ˈta.ta]

tata

1. a splint

May be the same as the first etymology.

• IPA^(key): [ˈta.ta]

tata (Jawi تاتة)

1. a kind of cylindrical basket generally made of bamboo strips, historically used to transport fruit and betel nut

• Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890), Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

tata

1. to bite

Thao cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : tata

From Proto-Austronesian *əsa.

tata

1. one

• taha

• IPA^(key): [ˈta.ta]
• Hyphenation: ta‧ta

From Proto-Polynesian *te-qa-ta.

tata

1. (alienable, definite) my

• tata is commonly used in place of taku to arouse the listener’s sympathy about some predicament that one is in.

From Proto-Polynesian *tata. Cognates include Tuvaluan tata and Samoan tata.

tata

1. A kind of fish trap, consisting of a wooden frame that can be closed by pulling a rope.

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[5], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 375

Akin to Ibanag tadday.

tatá

1. one

Of ideophonic origin

• IPA^(key): /tā.tā/

tata

1. grasshopper

   Synonyms: aláǹpara, ẹlẹ́ǹgà, edólo, kòkòrò