mammet

English

Alternative forms

• maumet, mawmet, mommet

Etymology

From Middle English mawmet, from Anglo-Norman maumet, shortened form of mauhoumet, mahumet; deriving from Andalusian Arabic مَحُمَّدْ (“Maḥummad”), ultimately derived from Arabic Muhammad.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmamɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

mammet (plural mammets)

1. (obsolete) A false god; an idol. [13th–17th c.]
   • c. 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott:

     Moloc that mawmett. there darre no man w^t ſay
     The Reſte of ſuche Reconyng may make a fowle fraye

2. A doll or puppet; a lifeless figure, an effigy, a scarecrow. [from 15th c.]
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:

     And then to haue a wretched puling foole, / A whining mammet, in her Fortunes tender, / To answer, Ile not wed, I cannot Loue: / I am too young, I pray you pardon me.

   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act HENRY 4-1, scene ii], page 3:

     this is no world / To play with mammets and to tilt with lips

   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 49:

     He didn't want to go, and I didn't want him to go; and we stood there like two mommets and there was nothing we could say.

3. A contemptible person; a weakling, a fool. [from 16th c.]
   • 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. V, letter 88:

     Blind, deaf, insensate driveler!—Torpid, blockish, brainless mammet!

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 32:

     "Had it anything to do with father's making such a mommet of himself in the carriage this afternoon?

Related terms

• mammetry
• Baphomet

Kavalan

Noun

mammet

1. vegetarian diet (for religious reasons)