dama

See also: Appendix:Variations of "dama"

Languages (35)

English

---

Asturian • Bambara • Catalan • Cebuano • Cornish • French • Galician • Garo • Hausa • Icelandic • Ilocano • Italian • Jamamadí • Japanese • Kashubian • Latin • Lithuanian • Maranao • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Irish • Polish • Portuguese • Romanian • Serbo-Croatian • Slovene • Slovincian • Spanish • Swahili • Tagalog • Turkish • Uneapa • West Makian • Ye'kwana

---

Page categories

English

Etymology 1

Compare Turkish dama, Northern Kurdish دامە (dame). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

dama (uncountable)

1. The game of Turkish draughts.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Chinese 大媽 / 大妈 (dàmā, “paternal aunt”)

Noun

dama (plural damas) (colloquial)

1. a rich Chinese middle-aged woman
2. (Hong Kong, derogatory, by extension) a spoilt tourist from China, usually a middle-aged woman; a Karen

See also

• dama gazelle
• dama wallaby

Anagrams

• A.A.M.D., Adam

Asturian

Noun

dama f (plural dames)

1. (chess) queen

Bambara

Etymology

Cognate with Eastern Maninkakan dàma.

Noun

dama

1. number, quantity
2. limit

Adverb

dama

1. only

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French dame, from Latin domina. Doublet of dona.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈda.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈda.ma]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

dama f (plural dames)

1. lady (graceful, elegant or noble woman)
2. (chess) queen
3. (in the plural) checkers (US), draughts (UK)

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish damas.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: da‧ma

Noun

dama

1. the game of checkers
2. (checkers) a king
3. a demijohn

Verb

dama

1. (checkers) to crown a king

Cornish

Etymology

Borrowed from English dame.

Noun

dama f (plural damyow)

1. mother, dame

   Synonym: mamm

Derived terms

• dama wynn (“grandmother”)
• myrgh hy dama (“herself”)

See also

• sira (“sir, father”)

Mutation

Mutation of dama

unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed	mixed after 'th
dama	dhama	unchanged	tama	tama	tama

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /da.ma/
• Homophones: damas, damât

Verb

dama

1. third-person singular past historic of damer

Anagrams

• Adam

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from French dame.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdama/ [ˈd̪a.mɐ]
• Rhymes: -ama
• Hyphenation: da‧ma

Noun

dama f (plural damas)

1. lady, dame, woman of high status
2. (chess) queen

   Synonym: raíña

Further reading

• “dama”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “dama”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

Garo

Etymology

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

Noun

dama

1. drum

Hausa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dáː.máː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [dáː.máː]

Noun

dāmā f (possessed form dāmar̃)

1. chance, opportunity, possibility
2. equal, something comparable
3. improvement

References

• Newman, Paul (2007), A Hausa-English Dictionary (Yale Language Series), New Haven; London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 41.

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaːma/
• Rhymes: -aːma

Noun

dama f (genitive singular dömu, nominative plural dömur)

1. lady (also used as a third person address)

   Hvað má bjóða dömunni?

   What may be offered the lady? (speaking to the lady herself)

Declension

Declension of dama (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	dama	daman	dömur	dömurnar
accusative	dömu	dömuna	dömur	dömurnar
dative	dömu	dömunni	dömum	dömunum
genitive	dömu	dömunnar	dama	damanna

Derived terms

• dömur mínar og herrar

See also

• frú
• lafði

Anagrams

• Adam

Ilocano

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish damas.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: da‧ma
• IPA^(key): /ˈdama/

Noun

dama

1. (board games) checkers (US); draughts (UK)

Derived terms

• agdama
• pagdamaan

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈda.ma/
• Rhymes: -ama
• Hyphenation: dà‧ma

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French dame. Doublet of donna.

Noun

dama f (plural dame)

1. lady
2. (board games, in the singular) draughts/checkers
3. king (in draughts/checkers)
4. draughtboard/checkerboard
5. queen (playing card)

Synonyms

• (lady): donna (archaic), lady, signora

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: دامه (dama), տամա (dama) — Armeno-Turkish
  • Turkish: dama
  • → Armenian: տամա (tama)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

dama

1. inflection of damare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• Adam

Jamamadí

Verb

dama

1. (Banawá) to hold securely

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Japanese

Romanization

dama

1. Rōmaji transcription of だま
2. Rōmaji transcription of ダマ

Kashubian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈda.ma/
• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: da‧ma

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dem-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *dṓmder.

Proto-Italic *domanos

Proto-Italic *domanā

Latin domina

Late Latin domna

Old French dame

French damebor.

Polish damabor.

Kashubian dama

Borrowed from Polish dama.

Noun

dama f

1. lady

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *dammazder.?

Middle High German tamm

German Dammbor.

Kashubian dama

Borrowed from German Damm. Doublet of tama, a form borrowed from Polish. Compare Slovincian dama.

Noun

dama f

1. dam

Further reading

• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “tama”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[1]
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “dama”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[2]
• “dama”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

Latin

Noun

dāma f (genitive dāmae); first declension

1. alternative form of damma (“fallow deer”)

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	dāma	dāmae
genitive	dāmae	dāmārum
dative	dāmae	dāmīs
accusative	dāmam	dāmās
ablative	dāmā	dāmīs
vocative	dāma	dāmae

References

• “dama”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “dama”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

• (damà) IPA^(key): [d̪ɐˈmɐ]
• (dãma) IPA^(key): [ˈd̪ä̌ːmɐ]

Noun

damà f (plural dãmos) stress pattern 2

1. lady
2. (card games) queen

Declension

Declension of damà

	singular (vienaskaita)	plural (daugiskaita)
nominative (vardininkas)	damà	dãmos
genitive (kilmininkas)	dãmos	dãmų
dative (naudininkas)	dãmai	dãmoms
accusative (galininkas)	dãmą	damàs
instrumental (įnagininkas)	damà	dãmomis
locative (vietininkas)	dãmoje	dãmose
vocative (šauksmininkas)	dãma	dãmos

See also

• (lady): ponia
• (queen): karalienė

Anagrams

• mada

Maranao

Etymology

From Spanish damas.

Noun

dama

1. checkers, draughts

Derived terms

• damadama (“checkered”)

References

• Howard P. McKaughan, Batua A. Macaraya (1967), A Maranao Dictionary‎^[3] (overall work in Maranao and English), University of Hawaii Press

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• damen

Noun

dama m or f

1. definite feminine singular of dame

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

dama f (definite singular dama, indefinite plural damer or damor, definite plural damene or damone)

1. definite singular of dame
2. (pre-2012) alternative form of dame

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd̪a.β̃a/

Verb

·dama

1. third-person singular present subjunctive conjunct of daimid

Mutation

Mutation of ·dama

radical	lenition	nasalization
·dama	·dama pronounced with /ð-/	·ndama

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dem-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *dṓmder.

Proto-Italic *domanos

Proto-Italic *domanā

Latin domina

Late Latin domna

Old French dame

French damebor.

Polish dama

Borrowed from French dame. Doublet of domina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈda.ma/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: da‧ma

Noun

dama f

1. lady

   Synonyms: białogłowa, facetka, kobiałka, kobieta, niewiasta

2. (card games) queen

   dama karo ― queen of diamonds

   dama kier ― queen of hearts

   dama pik ― queen of spades

   dama trefl ― queen of clubs

3. (chess, colloquial) queen (chess piece)

   Synonyms: hetman, królowa, królówka

Declension

Declension of dama

	singular	plural
nominative	dama	damy
genitive	damy	dam
dative	damie	damom
accusative	damę	damy
instrumental	damą	damami
locative	damie	damach
vocative	damo	damy

Derived terms

noun

• bawidamek
• biała dama

See also

Chess pieces in Polish · bierki szachowe (layout · text)
król	hetman, królowa, królówka, dama	wieża	goniec, laufer, giermek	skoczek, koń, konik	pion, pionek

Further reading

• dama in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• dama in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

dama de copas ― queen of hearts (sense 3)

Etymology

Borrowed from French dame, from Latin domina. Doublet of dona.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈdɐ̃.mɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈdɐ̃.mɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈdɐ.ma/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈdɐ.mɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈdɐ.mɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈda.mɐ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɐmɐ, (Brazil) -ɐ̃mɐ
• Hyphenation: da‧ma

Noun

dama f (plural damas)

1. lady
2. (chess) queen

   Synonym: rainha

4. (card games) queen

   Synonym: rainha

5. (board games) king (a piece of checkers that reached the farthest row forward)

See also

Playing cards in Portuguese · cartas de baralho (layout · text)
ás	dois, duque	três, terno	quatro, quadra	cinco, quina	seis, sena	sete, bisca, manilha
oito	nove	dez	valete	dama, rainha	rei	jóquer, curinga

Further reading

• “dama”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdama]

Noun

dama f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of damă

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dǎːma/
• Hyphenation: da‧ma

Noun

dáma f (Cyrillic spelling да́ма)

1. lady
2. (chess, card games) queen

Declension

Declension of dama

	singular	plural
nominative	dama	dame
genitive	dame	dama
dative	dami	damama
accusative	damu	dame
vocative	damo	dame
locative	dami	damama
instrumental	damom	damama

See also

Chess pieces in Serbo-Croatian · šahovske figure / шаховске фигуре (layout · text)
kralj краљ	dama, kraljica дама, краљица	top, kula топ, кула	lovac, trkač, laufer ловац, тркач, лауфер	skakač, konj скакач, коњ	pješak, pešak, pion, pijun пјешак, пешак, пион, пијун

Playing cards in Serbo-Croatian · igraće karte (layout · text)
as, kec	dvojka, dvica	trojka, trica	četvorka, četvrtica	petica	šestica	sedmica
osmica	devetka, devetica	desetka, desetica	dečko, pub, žandar, fant	kraljica, dama	kralj	džoker

Further reading

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

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dàːma/

Noun

dáma f

1. lady
2. (chess) queen
3. (card games) queen

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	dáma
gen. sing.	dáme
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	dáma	dámi	dáme
genitive (rodȋlnik)	dáme	dám	dám
dative (dajȃlnik)	dámi	dámama	dámam
accusative (tožȋlnik)	dámo	dámi	dáme
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	dámi	dámah	dámah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	dámo	dámama	dámami

See also

Playing cards in Slovene · igralne karte (layout · text)
as, enka	dvojka	trojka	štirka, štirica	petka, petica	šestka, šestica	sedemka, sedmica
osmica	devetka, devetica	desetka, desetica	fant	kraljica, dama	kralj	joker

Further reading

• “dama”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “dama”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Slovincian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *dammazder.?

Middle High German tamm

German Dammbor.

Slovincian dama

Borrowed from German Damm. Compare Kashubian dama.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈda.ma/
• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: da‧ma

Noun

dama f

1. dam

Further reading

• Lorentz, Friedrich (1908), “dą̃mă”, in Slovinzisches Wörterbuch‎^[4] (in German), volume 1, Saint Petersburg: ОРЯС ИАН, page 171

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French dame, from Latin domina. Doublet of dueña.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdama/ [ˈd̪a.ma]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: da‧ma

Noun

dama f (plural damas, masculine caballero, masculine plural caballeros)

1. lady, dame

   Synonyms: señora, ama

2. (Mexico) a female member of the court of honor at a quinceañera

   Coordinate term: chambelán

3. (chess) queen

   Synonym: reina

4. (checkers) king

   Synonym: reina

Derived terms

• dama de compañía
• dama de honor
• dama de noche
• damas y caballeros
• primera dama
• zapatito de dama

Further reading

• “dama”, 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

Anagrams

• amad

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese damas.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

dama class IX (no plural)

1. draughts, checkers

Synonyms

• drafti

Tagalog

Etymology 1

Compare Malay jamah.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /daˈma/ [d̪ɐˈma]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: da‧ma

Noun

damá (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜋ)

1. feeling; perception

   Synonyms: damdam, pakiramdam

2. opinion about something

   Synonyms: kuro, kuro-kuro, palagay

Adjective

damá (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜋ)

1. felt; perceived

Derived terms

• damahin
• dumama
• ipadama
• madama
• makadama
• pagdama
• pandama

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish damas.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈdama/ [ˈd̪aː.mɐ]
• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: da‧ma

Noun

dama (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜋ)

1. checkers; draughts
2. (checkers) king

Derived terms

• damahan
• damarama
• magdama

See also

• perdegana

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Spanish dama (“lady, dame”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈdama/ [ˈd̪aː.mɐ]
• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: da‧ma

Noun

dama (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜋ)

1. maid of honor; lady-in-waiting

   Synonym: abay

Derived terms

• dama de-notse
• damahuwana

Further reading

• “dama”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018.

Turkish

Dama tahtası

Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish دامه (dama), from Italian dama, from French dame, Old French dame, from Late Latin domna, shortened variant of Latin domina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈda.ma/
• Hyphenation: da‧ma

Noun

dama (definite accusative damayı, plural damalar)

1. (board games) checkers

Declension

Declension of dama

singular plural nominative dama damalar definite accusative damayı damaları dative damaya damalara locative damada damalarda ablative damadan damalardan genitive damanın damaların Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular damam damalarım 2nd singular daman damaların 3rd singular daması damaları 1st plural damamız damalarımız 2nd plural damanız damalarınız 3rd plural damaları damaları definite accusative singular plural 1st singular damamı damalarımı 2nd singular damanı damalarını 3rd singular damasını damalarını 1st plural damamızı damalarımızı 2nd plural damanızı damalarınızı 3rd plural damalarını damalarını dative singular plural 1st singular damama damalarıma 2nd singular damana damalarına 3rd singular damasına damalarına 1st plural damamıza damalarımıza 2nd plural damanıza damalarınıza 3rd plural damalarına damalarına locative singular plural 1st singular damamda damalarımda 2nd singular damanda damalarında 3rd singular damasında damalarında 1st plural damamızda damalarımızda 2nd plural damanızda damalarınızda 3rd plural damalarında damalarında ablative singular plural 1st singular damamdan damalarımdan 2nd singular damandan damalarından 3rd singular damasından damalarından 1st plural damamızdan damalarımızdan 2nd plural damanızdan damalarınızdan 3rd plural damalarından damalarından genitive singular plural 1st singular damamın damalarımın 2nd singular damanın damalarının 3rd singular damasının damalarının 1st plural damamızın damalarımızın 2nd plural damanızın damalarınızın 3rd plural damalarının damalarının Predicative forms singular plural 1st singular damayım damalarım 2nd singular damasın damalarsın 3rd singular dama damadır damalar damalardır 1st plural damayız damalarız 2nd plural damasınız damalarsınız 3rd plural damalar damalardır

Derived terms

• dama tahtası
• dama taşı
• damalı

Further reading

• “dama”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “dama”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “dama”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

Anagrams

• adam

Uneapa

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *dramaʀ (“light, torch”), variant of *ramaʀ with irregular loss of *ʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *damaʀ, from Proto-Austronesian *damaʀ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dama/

Noun

dama

1. light

Further reading

• Terry Crowley et al, The Oceanic Languages (2013), page 380
• Johnston, R.L. 1982. "Proto-Kimbe and the New Guinea Oceanic hypothesis". In Halim, A., Carrington, L. and Wurm, S.A. editors. Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 1: Currents in Oceanic, 59-95.

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd̪a.ma/

Noun

dama

1. forest

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[5], Pacific linguistics

Ye'kwana

Variant orthographies

ALIV	dama
Brazilian standard	dama
New Tribes	dama

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [dama]

Noun

dama

1. ocean, sea

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011), “dama”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[6], Lyon
• Costa, Isabella Coutinho; Silva, Marcelo Costa da; Rodrigues, Edmilson Magalhães (2021), “dama”, in Portal Japiim: Dicionário Ye'kwana‎^[7], Museu do Índio/FUNAI
• Hall, Katherine Lee (1988), The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volumes I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University, pages 219, 388: “[damạ] 'sea' […] dama - sea”
• Hall, Katherine (2007), “dama”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series‎^[8], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021
• de Civrieux, Marc (1980), “dama”, in  David M. Guss, transl., Watunna: An Orinoco Creation Cycle, San Francisco: North Point Press, →ISBN