The only free and comprehensive online etymological dictionary of the Spanish language

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ama f. (Noun) "proprietress," "landlady;" "nanny"
12th cent. Borrowed from Medieval Latin amma "wet nurse," "mother." From Proto-Italic *ammā- "mother." From either *h2em-h2- or *h2emm̥-h2- in Proto-Indo-European, meaning "mother." The variation between *-m- and *-mm̥- is likely due to deformation in children's speech.
Also the origin of the common surnames Ama, Amo, del Ama, and del Amo.
Indo-European
Romance
Asturian ama, Portuguese ama "nurse," "governess" Galician ama, Catalan ama, Occitan ama
Italic
Oscan ammaí "to mother"
Germanic
Gothic amma "mother," Old Norse amma "grandmother," Old High German amma "wet nurse"
Albanian
Albanian amë "mother"
Hellenic
Ancient Greek ἀμμά (ammá) "mother"
Basque
Basque ama (?) "mother" The word is nowhere in the oldest Basque texts and Proto-Basque lacked */m/, so perhaps a borrowing from Romance.
Corominas, J. & J. Pascual. Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e híspanico. 6 vols. Madrid: Gredos. 1991-1997.
de Vaan, M. Etymological Dictionary of Latin and Other Italic Languages. BRILL. 2014.
Real Academia Española. Diccionario de la lengua española. Online. 23rd ed. Madrid: Espasa Calpa. 2014. http://www.rae.es/.
Sihler, A. New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford University Press. 2008.
Tibón, G. Diccionario etimológico comparado de los apellidos españoles, hispanoamericanos y filipinos. Editorial Diana: Mexico. 1988.

9 November 2018 - Update 3.2

A series of shadow updates were implemented over the past month: changes in formatting and font, an improved layout to display cognates in other languages, and information added.

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The Online Etymological Dictionary of Spanish is a free etymological dictionary of the Spanish language launched on August 6, 2016. An etymology is not a definition but a history of a word over time. This site provides an account of the development of the Spanish language as best as historical linguists are able to ascertain in a way that is accessible both by laymen and academics. If you enjoy using this dictionary, please consider donating to help keep this site alive.