"bubba" meaning in English

See bubba in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈbʌbə/ Forms: bubbas [plural]
Etymology: Possibly an alteration of brother or bub, said by a young child not yet able to pronounce brother properly, but note similar terms in other Germanic languages derived from Proto-Germanic *bō-, *bō-, such as West Frisian bobbe, German Bube (“boy”), dialectal Swedish babbe (“little boy”), English babe, Dutch boef (“mischievous lad, rascal”), Middle Low German bōve, and Icelandic bófi. Also compare sissy. Etymology templates: {{m|en|brother}} brother, {{m|en|bub}} bub, {{noncog|gem-pro|*bō-}} Proto-Germanic *bō-, {{m|gem-pro|*bō-}} *bō-, {{noncog|fy|bobbe}} West Frisian bobbe, {{noncog|de|Bube||boy}} German Bube (“boy”), {{noncog|sv|babbe||little boy}} Swedish babbe (“little boy”), {{noncog|en|babe}} English babe, {{noncog|nl|boef||mischievous lad, rascal}} Dutch boef (“mischievous lad, rascal”), {{noncog|gml|bōve}} Middle Low German bōve, {{noncog|is|bófi}} Icelandic bófi, {{m|en|sissy}} sissy Head templates: {{en-noun}} bubba (plural bubbas)
  1. (Southern US, childish) Brother; used as term of familiar address. Tags: Southern-US, childish
    Sense id: en-bubba-en-noun-GGx2KW9- Categories (other): Southern US English
  2. A working-class white male from the southern US, stereotyped as loutish.
    Sense id: en-bubba-en-noun-awgb-sfZ
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: Bubba Related terms: brother, brotha, bro, bubby

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for bubba meaning in English (3.5kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "Bubba"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "brother"
      },
      "expansion": "brother",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "bub"
      },
      "expansion": "bub",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gem-pro",
        "2": "*bō-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bō-",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gem-pro",
        "2": "*bō-"
      },
      "expansion": "*bō-",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "bobbe"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian bobbe",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Bube",
        "3": "",
        "4": "boy"
      },
      "expansion": "German Bube (“boy”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "babbe",
        "3": "",
        "4": "little boy"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish babbe (“little boy”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "babe"
      },
      "expansion": "English babe",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "boef",
        "3": "",
        "4": "mischievous lad, rascal"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch boef (“mischievous lad, rascal”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "bōve"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Low German bōve",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "bófi"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic bófi",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sissy"
      },
      "expansion": "sissy",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Possibly an alteration of brother or bub, said by a young child not yet able to pronounce brother properly, but note similar terms in other Germanic languages derived from Proto-Germanic *bō-, *bō-, such as West Frisian bobbe, German Bube (“boy”), dialectal Swedish babbe (“little boy”), English babe, Dutch boef (“mischievous lad, rascal”), Middle Low German bōve, and Icelandic bófi. Also compare sissy.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bubbas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bubba (plural bubbas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "brother"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "brotha"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "bro"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "bubby"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Southern US English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Low Red Moon, page 27",
          "text": "\"Hey, bubba, is that really you? Goddamn. I haven't heard from you in a coon's age.\" / \"Don't 'hey, bubba' me, you sonofabitch.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Brother; used as term of familiar address."
      ],
      "id": "en-bubba-en-noun-GGx2KW9-",
      "links": [
        [
          "childish",
          "childish"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Southern US, childish) Brother; used as term of familiar address."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US",
        "childish"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "February 13, 2009, Ginia Bellafante, “A Pitcher’s Life After the Third Strike”, in New York Times",
          "text": "Will Ferrell and his creative partner, the writer and director Adam McKay, are, let’s face it, our national poets on the subject of dimwitted, bubba arrogance and the redemptive powers of failure, their poems seemingly conceived in a midnight frenzy of brilliance on the back of a bag of Doritos.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 120",
          "text": "Their subjects were not bubbas from the bayous but affluent students at the University of Michigan who had lived in the South for at least six years.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A working-class white male from the southern US, stereotyped as loutish."
      ],
      "id": "en-bubba-en-noun-awgb-sfZ",
      "links": [
        [
          "southern US",
          "South"
        ],
        [
          "loutish",
          "loutish"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbʌbə/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bubba"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "Bubba"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "brother"
      },
      "expansion": "brother",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "bub"
      },
      "expansion": "bub",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gem-pro",
        "2": "*bō-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *bō-",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gem-pro",
        "2": "*bō-"
      },
      "expansion": "*bō-",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "bobbe"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian bobbe",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Bube",
        "3": "",
        "4": "boy"
      },
      "expansion": "German Bube (“boy”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "babbe",
        "3": "",
        "4": "little boy"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish babbe (“little boy”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "babe"
      },
      "expansion": "English babe",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "boef",
        "3": "",
        "4": "mischievous lad, rascal"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch boef (“mischievous lad, rascal”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "bōve"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Low German bōve",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "bófi"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic bófi",
      "name": "noncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sissy"
      },
      "expansion": "sissy",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Possibly an alteration of brother or bub, said by a young child not yet able to pronounce brother properly, but note similar terms in other Germanic languages derived from Proto-Germanic *bō-, *bō-, such as West Frisian bobbe, German Bube (“boy”), dialectal Swedish babbe (“little boy”), English babe, Dutch boef (“mischievous lad, rascal”), Middle Low German bōve, and Icelandic bófi. Also compare sissy.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bubbas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bubba (plural bubbas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "brother"
    },
    {
      "word": "brotha"
    },
    {
      "word": "bro"
    },
    {
      "word": "bubby"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English childish terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Southern US English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Low Red Moon, page 27",
          "text": "\"Hey, bubba, is that really you? Goddamn. I haven't heard from you in a coon's age.\" / \"Don't 'hey, bubba' me, you sonofabitch.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Brother; used as term of familiar address."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "childish",
          "childish"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Southern US, childish) Brother; used as term of familiar address."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US",
        "childish"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "February 13, 2009, Ginia Bellafante, “A Pitcher’s Life After the Third Strike”, in New York Times",
          "text": "Will Ferrell and his creative partner, the writer and director Adam McKay, are, let’s face it, our national poets on the subject of dimwitted, bubba arrogance and the redemptive powers of failure, their poems seemingly conceived in a midnight frenzy of brilliance on the back of a bag of Doritos.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 120",
          "text": "Their subjects were not bubbas from the bayous but affluent students at the University of Michigan who had lived in the South for at least six years.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A working-class white male from the southern US, stereotyped as loutish."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "southern US",
          "South"
        ],
        [
          "loutish",
          "loutish"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbʌbə/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bubba"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-03-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-03-01 using wiktextract (68773ab and 5f6ddbb). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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