Ma’am. An Americanism for mother. See “Madam.” Ma’am School. The American term for a young ladies’ seminary, or an infants’ school kept by a woman. Macadamised Road. This system of road-making by means of broken stones pressed down by a heavy roller was introduced by John Loudon Macadam, a Scotsman, appointed Surveyor of Public Roads in 1827. Macaroni. From the Italian macare, to crush, to bruis..