Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Ama

by Maurice M. Hassett

Ama or Amma, a Semitic term meaning mother, adopted by the Copts and the Greeks as a title of honour applied to religious and ladies of high rank. In Coptic inscriptions, according to Leclercq, it is given to both of these categories of personages. The Greeks seem to have used it generally in the same sense as the Latin abbatissa or abbess. (2) Ama (amula). A vessel in which the wine offered by the people for the Holy Sacrifice was received (Ordo Rom., i, 13). Pope Adrian I (772–795) presented to the Church of St. Adrian ama una (Liber Pont. I, 510).

Leclercq in Dict. d'arch. chrét. et de lit., I, 1306-23; Krüll in Real. Encykl. der chr. Alterthümer, I, 48, 49.

Maurice M. Hassett.