mammet
nounUK /ˈmamɪt/
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.
1
Obsolete A false god; an idol.
- Moloc that mawmett. there darre no man wᵗ ſay The Reſte of ſuche Reconyng may make a fowle frayec. 1521, John Skelton, Speke Parott:
2
A doll or puppet; a lifeless figure, an effigy, a scarecrow.
- 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 III, scene v]:
- this is no world / To play with mammets and to tilt with lipsc. 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:
1 more example
- 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.1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 49:
3
A contemptible person; a weakling, a fool.
- Blind, deaf, insensate driveler!—Torpid, blockish, brainless mammet!1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. V, letter 88:
- "Had it anything to do with father's making such a mommet of himself in the carriage this afternoon?1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 32:
- Related terms
- mammetry, Baphomet