Ma, mä, n. a childish contraction for mamma.
Ma′am, mäm, n. a colloquial contraction of madam—vulgarly Marm, Mum.
Mab, mab, n. the name of a female fairy: the queen of the fairies—hence any fairy. [W. mab, child.]
Mab, mab, v.t. and v.i. (prov.) to dress untidily.
Mabinogion, mab-i-nō′ji-on, n. a collection of four Arthurian romances, embodied in the 12th century, embraced with seven other prose tales in the Red Book, or Hergest, a Welsh MS. of the 14th century—the whole published and translated by Lady Charlotte Guest in 1838. [W., 'children's tales.']
Mac, mak, a prefix in Scotch names, meaning son (of). [Gael. and Ir. mac, son; W. map, mab, also ap, ab.]
Macaberesque, ma-kā-bėr-esk′, adj. pertaining to, or like, the Dance of Death. [Fr. La Danse Macabre, Low L. Machabæorum chorea, the dance of the Maccabees, prob. because the seven brothers whose martyrdom is recorded in the 7th chapter of the 2d Book of Maccabees played an important part in the earliest form of the 14th-cent. drama on the subject.]
Macadamise, mak-ad′am-īz, v.t. to cover, as a road, with small broken stones, so as to form a smooth, hard surface.—ns. Macad′am, macadamised pavement; Macadamisā′tion. [From John Loudon Macadam (1756-1836).]
Macaque, ma-kak′, n. a monkey of genus Macacus, between baboons and the African mangabeys.
Macarise, mak′a-rīz, v.t. to bless, pronounce happy.—adj. Macā′rian, blessed.—n. Mac′arism, a beatitude. [Gr. makar, happy.]