boa

Etymology

From Middle English boa, from Latin boa (“large snake”), a species of serpent mentioned in Pliny's Naturalis Historia (Natural History). The scarf was named attributively, for its resemblance to the snake when worn.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbəʊ.ə/, (obsolete) /bɔː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈboʊ.ə/
• Rhymes: -əʊə

Noun

boa (plural boas or (obsolete) boæ)

1. Any of a group of large American snakes, of the genus Boa, subfamily Boinae, or family Boidae, including the boa constrictor and the emperor boa of Mexico.
2. A type of long scarf; typically made from synthetic or real feathers (or occasionally fur), and usually worn by being draped across the shoulders with the ends hanging low, sometimes also with a loop around the neck.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 220:

     Do not take up your boa as if it were the rope with which you meant to hang yourself; nor wrap your shawl round you as if it were your shroud.

See also

• boa on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Boa on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• Åbo, bao, AOB, oba, Abo, ABO, BAO, a.o.b., Oba., OAB, Bao, abo, OBA, A/B/O

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin boa (“large snake”). Doublet of boà.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈbɔ.ə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈbo.a]

Noun

boa f (plural boes)

1. boa (snake)
2. scaly dragonfish (Stomias boa boa)

   Synonym: boa marina

Further reading

• “boa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “boa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “boa” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “boa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology

From Latin boa (“large snake”).

Noun

boa c (singular definite boaen, plural indefinite boaer)

1. boa (snake)
2. boa (item of clothing)

References

• “boa” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology

From Middle Dutch boa, from Latin boa. The use for scarf derived from French boa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboː.aː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: boa
• Rhymes: -oːaː

Noun

boa m (plural boa's, diminutive boaatje n)

1. boa, snake of the genus Boa
2. fur or plumed scarf, boa

Etymology

From bo- +‎ -a.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈboa]
• Rhymes: -oa
• Hyphenation: bo‧a

Adjective

boa (accusative singular boan, plural boaj, accusative plural boajn)

1. Related by marriage (rarely used; bo- is usually a prefix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboa/
• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: bo‧a

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese voda (“wedding”), from Latin vōta (“vows”).

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish boa, from Latin boa.

Etymology 3

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎, 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

Etymology

From Latin boa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbo.ɑ/, [ˈbo̞.ɑ̝]
• IPA^(key): /ˈboː.ɑ/, [ˈbo̞ː.ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -o.ɑ
• Hyphenation^(key): boa

Noun

boa

1. boa (snake)

Further reading

• “boa”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Anagrams

• abo

Etymology

From Latin boa (“large snake”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔ.a/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

boa m (plural boas)

1. boa (snake)
2. boa (scarf)

Further reading

• “boa”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology 1

From Latin boa (“large snake”).

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Further reading

• “boa”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024

Etymology

From Dutch boa, from Middle Dutch boa, from Latin boa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈboa̯]
• Hyphenation: boa

Noun

boa (first-person possessive boaku, second-person possessive boamu, third-person possessive boanya)

1. boa, snake of the genus Boa
2. fur or plumed scarf, boa

Further reading

• “boa” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.