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娘媽

简娘妈 · 繁娘媽

Mandarin · pinyin niáng mā

(coll.) woman

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Characters in this entry

娘: niáng · mother; young girl; woman; wife
媽: mā · mother, mama
妈: mā · mother, mama

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–1 · niang2 ma1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

name

(religion) "The Lady and Mother", an epithet of the Fujianese sea goddess Mazu (媽祖／妈祖).
(Puxian Min, Zhangzhou Hokkien) Zhusheng Niangniang (goddess of fertility)

noun

(Puxian Min) a person who is overly careful and irresolute (like an old woman)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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