Entry · catalog no. 7028
big mama
/ /bɪɡ ˈmɑːmə/ /BIG-MAH-muh
n. · Black American family tradition · 1900s
✓ Verified
1.
The family matriarch, most often the maternal grandmother; the elder who anchors and guides the household across generations.
“Every Sunday everybody ended up at Big Mama's table.”
Origin & Attribution
A kinship honorific of Black American family life, naming the grandmother or eldest woman who serves as the family's center of gravity — keeper of history, wisdom, and the pot on Sunday. An oral tradition of the 20th century, carried in speech long before it reached the screen in films like Soul Food (1997). Not to be confused with the Hollywood caricature; in the home it is a name said with love and deference.
20th c.
Established in Black American family speech
1997
The film Soul Food centers on 'Big Mama' as family matriarch
2012
Katori Hall's play Hurt Village features a 'Big Mama'
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
Black American family tradition · 1900s
Spoken by
Black American families
$BIGMAMThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady26 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
65/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
George Tillman Jr., Soul Food (film)
1997
■
+ Cite a sourceKatori Hall, Hurt Village (play)
2012
See also