Ab or Av (related to Akkadian abu[1]), sometimes Abba, means "father" in most Semitic languages.
Abu'l fulus, "father of money", is frequently used to refer to a place where rumors have been told of a treasure being hidden there.
The Swahili word Bwana, meaning "mister", "sir", or "lord", is derived from the Arabic Abuna (أبونا), "our father".
[2] The Aramaic term for father is אב (av), but when speaking to someone (equivalent to the vocative in Latin), it is אבא (abba), which is how it appears transliterated in the New Testament in Mark 14:36, Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6.
Each time the term appears in transliteration it is followed immediately by the translation ho pater in Greek, which literally means “the father.” In each case it is used with reference to God.
Mark records that Jesus used the term when praying in Gethsemane shortly before his death, saying: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me.
The exact meaning of the element ab (אב) or abi (אבי) in Hebrew personal names (such as Ab-ram, Ab-i-ram, Ah-ab, Jo-ab) is a matter of dispute.
The compound may either express a nominal phrase (Av[i]ram = "[my] father is exalted") or simply an apposition.
In the case of an apposition the second word would require a definite article (Av[i] hasafa = "father of the language", Ha= the).