Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
mammy [mam-ee] ExamplesWord Origin noun, plural mam·mies.
- Informal. mother1.
- Disparaging and Offensive. (formerly in the southern U.S.) a black woman engaged as a nurse to white children or as a servant to a white family.
Origin of mammy First recorded in 1515–25; mamm(a)1 + -y2 Usage note At the time of the Civil War and into the 20th century, the Southern mammy was characterized as being strong, kind, and loyal. But her image was also that of an overweight, unattractive, and often illiterate household slave. This reinforced racial stereotypes of inferiority and servility. See also Aunt Jemima. Examples from the Web for mammies Historical Examples of mammies
De chillun’s mammies, dey would come in from de fields about three times er day to let de babies suck.
Work Projects Administration
Dey had a separate house for ’em, and a granny ‘oman who didn’t have nothin’ else to do but look atter colored babies and mammies.
Work Projects Administration
I am a southern man, born and reared mid slavery, and I pay this tribute to the black “mammies” of the South before the war.
Wit, Humor, Reason, Rhetoric, Prose, Poetry and Story Woven into Eight Popular Lectures
George W. Bain
Where there were Negro mammies, white children were likely to be haunted in the night by fear of ghosts.
Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest
J. Frank Dobie
The black boys were shipped off to their mammies and I fear received their full share of “the condign.”
Thomas Nelson Page
British Dictionary definitions for mammies mammy mammie noun plural -mies
- a child’s word for mother 1
- mainly Southern US a Black woman employed as a nurse or servant to a White family
Word Origin and History for mammies mammy n.
1520s, diminutive of mam (see mamma). Meaning “black woman having the care of white children” is by 1837, Southern U.S. dialect, variant of mamma.