English

Alternative forms

• mamasan
• mammasan

Noun

mama-san ‎(plural mama-sans)

1. A mother, in Japan or East Asia. [from 1900s]
2. A woman in a position of authority, especially the madam of a geisha bar. [from 1940s]
   • 2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate 2011, p. 340:

     ‘I had a last go at the film festival, hoping those Thai mammasans would stir you up with some juice kiddy-porn.’

   • 2011, Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, 15 Mar 2011:

     "We just get one very small meal – a single rice ball or piece of bread," said Mieko Kono, a hostess bar "mama-san" who looks spectacularly out of place in the municipal office, dolled up as she is in her work clothes of leopard-print top and slacks.