Baba: Encyclopedia - Baba

Baba

Baba can mean:

• Beb, an Egyptian god;
• An F-Zero Racer
• The word "father" or a derivation (like papa) in several languages, including Albanian, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Turkish, Urdu, Syriac, etc.;
• Baba is shortened form of various persons whose full name includes baba, e.g.
  • Sai Baba of Shirdi (1838?-1918);
  • Ali Baba
  • Sathya Sai Baba (born circa 1926-1929), a famous Indian guru in Puttaparthi;
  • Meher Baba
• Derived from its original meaning of father, the name has become a respectful title in India, especially for religious figures.
• An aristocratic title, notably for
  • certain Indian feudal lords (some styled Maharaj, but not ruling princes), notably in Rajasthan
  • the Sultan of Rey-Bouba in Nigeria
• Jaroslav Baba, a Czech high jumper;
• Baba, Afghanistan;
• One of the Bamileke ethnic groups of Cameroon.
• The male counterpart to the Nyonyas, Malaysian Straits-Chinese who have adopted local Malay customs, and who are known collectively as Peranakans;
• The word for "old woman" in some modern Slavic languages;
  • Hence Baba Yaga, a witch in old Slavic mythology, also mentioned in Hungarian folklore;
• The second month of the Coptic calendar;
• The term for "Bye" in Austrian dialects of the German language;
• In fiction :
  • Babar, an elephant who is the central character of his eponymous cartoon series and books;
  • Urai Baba, a character in the anime series Dragon Ball and its sequels, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT;
• An alias/honorific used by Dwight York
• Baba O'Riley - First track from the album Who's Next by British Rock and Roll group The Who;

See also: baba ganoush, a Middle Eastern meal

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Baba", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki