English Reference

Word

emma

Phoneticsem·ma

/ˈɛmə/

Definitions

01female name

A1

n. a popular name for a girl or woman.

n. a female given name of Germanic origin, derived from words meaning 'whole' or 'universal'.

“Emma is starting her new job at the hospital next Monday.”

“The name Emma has consistently ranked among the most popular choices for newborn girls in both Europe and North America for several decades.”

02the letter M

C2

n. an old way to say the letter 'M' in the British military.

n. the signifier for the letter M in the early 20th-century British military phonetic alphabet.

“In old war stories, soldiers might say 'Ack Emma' for A.M.”

“The term 'Ack Emma' was standard World War I slang for A.M., using the phonetic alphabet of the era to clarify the time.”

British English · Archaic

Usage

Commonly found in the phrase 'Ack Emma' (A.M.) or 'Pip Emma' (P.M.).

Synonyms

Etymology

Brought to England by the Normans; short form of compound given names beginning with a Frankish prototheme Ermin- or Irmin- "entire", from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Common
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/emma

English Reference