Meaning
The grandmother or matriarch — the big mother — who heads and holds together an extended family, often raising the grandchildren and ruling the household with a firm, loving hand. In many Jamaican families the big mumma is the true centre of authority and care, the one whose yard everyone returns to. Separately, the phrase can also describe a large, heavy-set woman, from the plain sense of 'big'.
Examples
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Big mumma raise all a wi inna har yard.
Grandmother raised all of us in her yard.
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Nobody nuh badda big mumma.
Nobody troubles grandmother.
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Big mumma cook fi di whole family pon Sunday.
Grandmother cooks for the whole family on Sunday.
Origin
From 'big' + 'mumma' (mother); the family matriarch/grandmother. See [[mumma]], [[maama]].
How it’s used
The grandmother/matriarch heading an extended family; also a large woman. See [[mumma]], [[maama]].