boa

See also: Appendix:Variations of "boa"

Languages (26)

Translingual • English

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Akan • Albanian • Catalan • Danish • Dutch • Esperanto • Fala • Finnish • French • Galician • Indonesian • Istriot • Italian • Katembri • Latin • Lindu • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Polish • Portuguese • Romanian • Spanish • Swedish • Vietnamese

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Bora.

Symbol

boa

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Bora.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Bora terms

English

Boa constrictor

Feather 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.

Hyponyms

snakes

• Amazon Basin emerald tree boa (Corallus batesii)
• banana boa (Boa imperator)
• boa constrictor (Boa constrictor)
• coastal rubber boa, northern rubber boa, rubber boa (Charina bottae)
• emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus
• Haitian tree boa (Epicrates gracilis)
• javelin sand boa (Eryx jaculus)
• Madagascar tree boa (Sanzinia madagascariensis)
• northern eyelash boa (Trachyboa boulengeri)
• Pacific tree boa (Candoia bibroni)
• rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria)
• rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata)
• sand boa (subfamily Erycinae)
• southern rubber boa (Charina umbratica)
• tree boa (family Boidae)
• water boa (genus Eunectes)

Derived terms

• boaed
• feather boa

Translations

snake

• Albanian: boa (sq) m
• Arabic: بُوَاء (buwāʔ)
• Asturian: boa (ast) f
• Basque: boa (eu)
• Catalan: boa (ca) f
• Chamicuro: akumawa, kasesepi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蚺 (zh) (rán)

• Czech: hroznýš (cs) m
• Danish: boa (da) c
• Dutch: boa (nl) m
• Esperanto: boao
• Finnish: boa (fi) (genus Boa); boakäärme (fi), jättiläiskäärme (family Boidae)
• French: boa (fr) m
• Galician: boa (gl) f
• German: Boa (de) f
• Greek: βόας (el) m (vóas)
• Hindi: अजगर (hi) m (ajgar)
• Ingrian: udava
• Italian: boa (it) m
• Japanese: ボア (ja) (boa)
• Kazakh: жалғанаяқты (jalğanayaqtı)
• Korean: 보아 (boa), 왕뱀 (wangbaem)
• Kyrgyz: боа (ky) (boa), удав (ky) (udav)
• Macedonian: бо́а f (bóa), зми́ски цар m (zmíski car), у́дав m (údav)
• Manx: aarnieu traastagh m
• Māori: poa
• Mon: ကၠန် (mnw)
• Pali: ajagara m
• Polish: boa (pl) m
• Portuguese: jiboia (pt) f, boa (pt) f
• Romanian: boa (ro)
• Russian: бо́а (ru) m (bóa), уда́в (ru) m (udáv)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: удав m

  Latin: udav (sh) m

• Spanish: boa (es) f
• Ukrainian: уда́в m (udáv)

scarf

• Afrikaans: boa
• Albanian: boa (sq)
• Basque: lepoko
• Catalan: boà (ca) m
• Danish: boa (da) c
• Dutch: boa (nl) m
• Finnish: höyhenhuivi, puuhka (fi)
• French: boa (fr) m
• Galician: boa (gl) f
• Italian: boa (it) m
• Polish: boa (pl) n
• Russian: горже́тка (ru) f (goržétka), бо́а (ru) m (bóa)
• Tuvan: богаа (bogaa)

See also

• Boidae 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

Akan

Pronunciation 1

• (Asante) IPA^(key): /bù̙.à̙/

Verb

boa (Twi)

1. to help

Pronunciation 2

• (Asante) IPA^(key): /bù̙.á̙/

Verb

boa (Twi)

1. to lie, tell untruths

   Meboa? ― Am I wrong? (literally, “Do I lie?”)

References

• LearnAkan (2018–present), “help”, in LearnAkanDictionary.com (overall work in English)

Albanian

Alternative forms

• bo f — archaic

Etymology

Internationalism, compare French boa, Italian boa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboa/
• Rhymes: -oa

Noun

boa f (plural boa, definite boa, definite plural boat)

1. boa (Boa)

   boa mbytëse, boa shtrënguese ― Boa constrictor

   boa e gomës ― Charina bottae

   boa e rërës ― Eryx conicus, E. johnii

References

• FGJSSH (1980), page 159b: “bóa”
• Mann (1948), page 33a: “boa, ja”
• Lloshi (2010), page 39b: “boa”

Catalan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

boa f (plural boes)

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

   Synonym: boa marina

Derived terms

• boa constrictora

Further reading

• “boa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “boa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “boa” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “boa”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Danish

Etymology

From Latin boa (“large snake”).

Noun

boa c (singular definite boaen, plural indefinite boaer)

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

Declension

Declension of boa

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	boa	boaen	boaer	boaerne
genitive	boas	boaens	boaers	boaernes

Synonyms

• boaslange

Derived terms

• boaslange
• fjerboa
• kongeboa

References

• “boa” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch boa, from Latin boa. The use for scarf is a semantic loan 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

Derived terms

• regenboogboa

Descendants

• → Indonesian: boa

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “boa”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Further reading

• boa on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

French beau-bor.

Esperanto bo-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Italic *-ā

Latin -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Italian -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Old Spanish -a

Spanish -ader.

Esperanto -a

Esperanto boa

From bo- + -a.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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

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

Fala

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti

Proto-Indo-European *h₁wogʷʰéyeti

Proto-Italic *woɣʷeō

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tos

Proto-Italic *woɣʷetos

Proto-Italic *wowitos

Latin vōtusnom.

Latin vōta

Old Galician-Portuguese voda

Fala boa

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

Alternative forms

• boda (Lagarteiru, Valverdeñu)

Noun

boa f (plural boas)

1. (Mañegu) wedding

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Latin boalbor.

Spanish boabor.

Fala boa

Borrowed from Spanish boa, a learned borrowing from Latin boa.

Noun

boa f (plural boas)

1. boa

Etymology 3

Adjective

boa

1. feminine singular of bo (“good”)

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web), 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 67

Finnish

Etymology

From Latin boa.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

boa

1. boa (snake)

Declension

Inflection of boa (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)
nominative		boa	boat
genitive		boan	boien
partitive		boaa	boia
illative		boaan	boiin
		singular	plural
nominative		boa	boat
accusative	nom.	boa	boat
	gen.	boan
genitive		boan	boien boain rare
partitive		boaa	boia
inessive		boassa	boissa
elative		boasta	boista
illative		boaan	boiin
adessive		boalla	boilla
ablative		boalta	boilta
allative		boalle	boille
essive		boana	boina
translative		boaksi	boiksi
abessive		boatta	boitta
instructive		—	boin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of boa (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative boani boani accusative nom. boani boani gen. boani genitive boani boieni boaini rare partitive boaani boiani inessive boassani boissani elative boastani boistani illative boaani boiini adessive boallani boillani ablative boaltani boiltani allative boalleni boilleni essive boanani boinani translative boakseni boikseni abessive boattani boittani instructive — — comitative — boineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative boasi boasi accusative nom. boasi boasi gen. boasi genitive boasi boiesi boaisi rare partitive boaasi boiasi inessive boassasi boissasi elative boastasi boistasi illative boaasi boiisi adessive boallasi boillasi ablative boaltasi boiltasi allative boallesi boillesi essive boanasi boinasi translative boaksesi boiksesi abessive boattasi boittasi instructive — — comitative — boinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative boamme boamme accusative nom. boamme boamme gen. boamme genitive boamme boiemme boaimme rare partitive boaamme boiamme inessive boassamme boissamme elative boastamme boistamme illative boaamme boiimme adessive boallamme boillamme ablative boaltamme boiltamme allative boallemme boillemme essive boanamme boinamme translative boaksemme boiksemme abessive boattamme boittamme instructive — — comitative — boinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative boanne boanne accusative nom. boanne boanne gen. boanne genitive boanne boienne boainne rare partitive boaanne boianne inessive boassanne boissanne elative boastanne boistanne illative boaanne boiinne adessive boallanne boillanne ablative boaltanne boiltanne allative boallenne boillenne essive boananne boinanne translative boaksenne boiksenne abessive boattanne boittanne instructive — — comitative — boinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative boansa boansa accusative nom. boansa boansa gen. boansa genitive boansa boiensa boainsa rare partitive boaansa boiaan boiansa inessive boassaan boassansa boissaan boissansa elative boastaan boastansa boistaan boistansa illative boaansa boiinsa adessive boallaan boallansa boillaan boillansa ablative boaltaan boaltansa boiltaan boiltansa allative boalleen boallensa boilleen boillensa essive boanaan boanansa boinaan boinansa translative boakseen boaksensa boikseen boiksensa abessive boattaan boattansa boittaan boittansa instructive — — comitative — boineen boinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• boakäärme
• kuningasboa
• smaragdipuuboa

Further reading

• “boa”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

Anagrams

• abo

French

Etymology

From Latin boa (“large snake”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔ.a/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

boa m (plural boas)

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

Derived terms

• boa constricteur

Further reading

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

Galician

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Derived from Latin boa (“large snake”).

Noun

boa f (plural boas)

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

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

boa

1. feminine singular of bo

Further reading

• “boa”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Indonesian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

boa (plural boa-boa)

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

Further reading

• “boa”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Istriot

Etymology

Borrowed from Ligurian boa, from Lombardic *bauga.

Noun

boa f

1. boa (snake)

References

• Antonio Pellizzer; Giovanni Pellizzer (1992), Vocabulario del dialetto di Rovigno d'Istria, page 145
• Cergna, Sandro (2015), Vocabolario del dialetto di Valle d'Istria‎^[3], →ISBN, →OCLC

Italian

Etymology

From Latin boa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.a/
• Rhymes: -ɔa
• Hyphenation: bò‧a

Noun

boa m (invariable)

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

Noun

boa f (plural boe)

1. buoy

Katembri

Noun

boa

1. moon

References

• Čestmír Loukotka, ‎Johannes Wilbert (editor), Classification of South American Indian Languages (1968, Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, University of California), page(s) 88-89

Latin

Etymology 1

First mentioned by Pliny. From Proto-Italic *gʷouā (with the b- due to a Sabellic intermediary), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷówyeh₂, a derivative of *gʷówyos (“pertaining to cows”). The semantic derivation stems from folk beliefs that snakes could drink cow milk; such folklore also underlies Serbo-Croatian guja and kravosas, the former being an exact cognate to the Latin word.

Noun

boa f (genitive boae); first declension

1. A large snake native to Roman Italy.
2. A disease, the measles or smallpox.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	boa	boae
genitive	boae	boārum
dative	boae	boīs
accusative	boam	boās
ablative	boā	boīs
vocative	boa	boae

Descendants

• Istriot: boa, buasèra
• → Middle Dutch: boa
  • Dutch: boa
    • → Indonesian: boa
• → Middle English: boa
  • English: boa
• → Middle French: boa
  • French: boa
• → German: Boa

Etymology 2

Verb

boā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of boō

Further reading

• “boa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "boa", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Lindu

Noun

boa

1. lie; falsehood

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

boa m (definite singular boaen, indefinite plural boaer, definite plural boaene)

1. boa

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin boa (“large snake”).

Noun

boa m (definite singular boaen, indefinite plural boaer or boaar, definite plural boaene or boaane)

1. boa

Etymology 2

From Old Norse bóa, from Proto-Germanic *bō- (“a stem meaning father, brother, close male relation.”).

Noun

boa m

1. (archaic or dialectal) an endearing term for brother

See also

• bror m (“brother”)

References

• “boa” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Polish

boa noun 1 sense 1

boa noun 2 sense 1

Etymology

Borrowed from French boa. First attested in 1836.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.a/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔa
• Syllabification: bo‧a

Noun

boa m animal (indeclinable)

2. boa (any snake of the genus Boa)

   duży boa ― a large boa

   niewielki boa ― a small boa

   kilkumetrowy boa ― a boa a few meters long

   wygłodzony boa ― a starving boa

   wąż boa ― a boa snake

   cielsko boa ― a boa carcass

Derived terms

nouns

• boa dusiciel

Noun

boa n (indeclinable)

2. boa (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)

   futrzane boa ― a furry boa

   pierzaste boa ― a feather boa

   puchowe boa ― a down boa

   wyłysiałe boa ― a featherless boa

   boa z piór ― a boa made of feathers

   boa ze strusich piór ― a boa made of ostrich feathers

   szal z boa ― a boa scarf

   poprawiać boa ― to fix a boa

   włożyć na szyję boa ― to wrap a boa around one's neck

   owinięty boa ― wrapped in a boa

Further reading

• “boa”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “boa”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[5] (in Polish)
• boa in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• bõa (archaic, dialectal)
• boua (dialectal)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbo(w).ɐ/ [ˈbo(ʊ̯).ɐ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.ɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.ɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbo(w).ɐ/

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɐ, (Brazil) -owɐ
• Hyphenation: bo‧a

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese bõa, from Latin bona, feminine of bonus (“good”). Cognate with Galician boa and Spanish buena. See more at bom.

Adjective

boa

1. feminine singular of bom

Noun

boa f (plural boas)

1. an interesting story, joke or news

Interjection

boa!

1. good one!, well done!, all right! (expresses approval, applause or admiration)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Latin boa

taxonomic name Boalbor.

Portuguese boa

Learned borrowing from taxonomic name Boa, from Latin boa (“large Italian snake species”).

Noun

boa f (plural boas)

1. boa (any snake of the Boa genus)

   Synonym: jiboia

Further reading

• “boa”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “boa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French boa.

Noun

boa m (uncountable)

1. boa constrictor

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	boa	boaul
genitive-dative	boa	boaului
vocative	boaule

Spanish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin boa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboa/ [ˈbo.a]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: bo‧a

Noun

boa f (plural boas)

1. boa (snake)
2. boa (scarf made from feathers)

Further reading

• “boa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin boa.

Noun

boa c

1. boa (snake)

   Synonym: boaorm

2. boa (scarf)
3. (Småland) the shed

Declension

Declension of boa

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	boa	boas
	definite	boan	boans
plural	indefinite	boor	boors
	definite	boorna	boornas

Derived terms

• boaorm
• fjäderboa

References

• “boa”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “boa”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “boa”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓwaː˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓwaː˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓwaː˧˧]

Etymology 1

From French pourboire (“tip”, literally “for-drink”).

Verb

boa

1. to leave a tip; to give gratuity

   tiền boa ― a tip

Etymology 2

Numeral

boa

1. Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi spelling of ba

Anagrams

• bao