ba

English Online Dictionary. What means ba‎? What does ba mean?

Translingual

Symbol

ba

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

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Egyptian bꜣ,

Noun

ba (plural bas)

1. (Egyptian mythology) A being's soul or personality, represented as a bird-headed figure, which survives after death but must be sustained with offerings of food.

Etymology 2

The sound is very commonly made by infants, and is interpreted by parents as a reference to themselves.

Noun

ba (plural bas) (not generally used in the plural)

1. (colloquial and in direct address) Father, baba.

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• ba'

Noun

ba (uncountable)

1. (historical) A medieval football game played in parts of Scotland around Christmas and New Year.

Etymology 4

Noun

ba (plural bas)

1. Abbreviation of bathroom.

   2 beds, 1 ba

Usage notes

Commonly found in apartment listings.

Anagrams

• -ab, A&B, A.B., A/B, AB, Ab, a.b., ab, ab-, ab.

Akan

Verb

ba

1. (Fante) come

References

• Rose-Juliet Anyanwu, Fundamentals of Phonetics, Phonology and Tonology (2008)

Anguthimri

Noun

ba

1. (Mpakwithi) island

References

• Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 184

Bakung

Noun

ba

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)
2. water (mineral water)

Bambara

Etymology 1

Noun

ba

1. mother

Synonyms

• bamuso
• ma

Etymology 2

Noun

bà

1. goat

Etymology 3

Noun

bá

1. river, stream, lake

Etymology 4

Numeral

bà

1. one thousand

Synonyms

• waa

Basque

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/, [ba]

Etymology 1

Particle

ba

1. Alternative form of ba-

   Ba al zatoz? ― Are you coming?

   Ba ote al dago inor etxean? ― Is anyone home?

   Ba omen zegoen bidea ezagutzen zuen norbait. ― There was someone who knew the way.

Usage notes

See usage notes at ba-.

Etymology 2

Clipping of bada (“it is”)

Particle

ba

1. so, then, well

   Ez nizun ba esan. ― Well, I didn't tell you.

Etymology 3

Clipping of bai (“yes”).

Particle

ba

1. (Northern) yes

Etymology 4

Probably from Spanish bah.

Interjection

ba

1. Indicates disdain or unbelief.

Further reading

• "ba" in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], euskaltzaindia.eus
• “ba” in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], euskaltzaindia.eus

Borôro

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaː/

Noun

ba

1. egg

Buhi'non Bikol

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bahaq, from Proto-Austronesian *baSaq.

Noun

bâ

1. flood

Cebuano

Pronunciation 1

• (General Cebuano) IPA^(key): /ˈba/
• Rhymes: -a

Particle

ba

1. interrogative particle

   Kini ba ang Kabisay-an? ― Is this the Visayas?

   Kamao ka ba molangoy? ― Do you know how to swim?

Pronunciation 2

• (General Cebuano) IPA^(key): /ˈbaː/
• Rhymes: -a

Etymology

Short for baba.

Verb

ba

1. to piggyback; to carry someone on the back

Chichewa

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-jíba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɓa/

Verb

-ba (infinitive kubá)

1. steal

Derived terms

• Verbal derivations:
  • Applicative: -bera
  • Other formations: -ba mawu (“eavesdrop”)

• Nominal derivations:
  • wakuba (“thief”)

Chickasaw

Conjunction

ba

1. Alternative spelling of ba'

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• bo

Etymology

From Middle High German wā, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwar (“where”). Cognate with German wo, English where.

Pronoun

ba

1. (Sette Comuni, relative) that; which; who

   dar faff ba de pridighet ― the priest who preaches

Adverb

ba (dative bannont)

1. (Sette Comuni, interrogative) where

Adverb

ba

1. (Sette Comuni, attributive only) how (modifier used to express suprise, delight, etc.)

   Ba khalt! ― How cold!

Related terms

• éppadabaa

References

• “ba” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Dagbani

Etymology 1

Noun

ba (plural banima)

1. father
2. a title of respect

Usage notes

• obligatorily possessed: includes father's brothers, and in the plural all relatives on the father's side, particularly those of his generation.

See also

• ma

Etymology 2

Pronoun

ba

1. Third-person, animate, singular, neutral, object pronoun them

See also

• bɛ
• o
• ban
• bana

Dama (Sierra Leone)

Etymology

Cognate with Vai [script needed] (ba), Mende wa.

Adjective

ba

1. big

References

• Dalby, T. D. P. (1963), “The extinct language of Dama”, in Sierra Leone Language Review, volume 2, Freetown: Fourah Bay College, pages 50–54

Duun

Etymology

Onomatopoeic?

Noun

ba

1. goat

Further reading

• Duungooma ABC (alphabet duun), page 3

Eastern Penan

Noun

ba

1. water

References

• Dictionary of Eastern Penan

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English ba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/

Noun

ba

1. (Egyptian mythology) ba

Fula

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Particle

ba

1. (Pular) interrogative particle

Usage notes

• Placed at the end of a phrase
• Implies an alternative

Adverb

ba

1. (Maasina) not even

2. nothing
3. even

   Synonym: fay

See also

• yalli

References

• Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.
• Richard Smith, Urs Niggli, Dictionnaire fulfulde - anglais - français, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2016.

Garo

Etymology

Probably from Bengali বা (ba), which is a short form of কিংবা (kiṁba).

Conjunction

ba

1. or

Gothic

Romanization

ba

1. Romanization of 𐌱𐌰

Haitian Creole

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

ba

1. give

Synonyms

• ban
• bay

Hlai

Pronunciation

• (Standard Hlai, Baoding) IPA^(key): /pa˥˧/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Hlai *hmaː (“five”), from Pre-Hlai *maː (Norquest, 2015).

Numeral

ba

1. five

Etymology 2

From Proto-Hlai *hmaː (“dog; hunting dog”), from Pre-Hlai *maː (Norquest, 2015). Compare Proto-Tai *ʰmaːᴬ (“dog”) (whence Thai หมา).

Noun

ba

1. dog, hunting dog

Iban

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [baʔ]
• Rhymes: -ba, -a

Preposition

ba

1. in

2. at

3. on

Iriga Bicolano

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bahaq, from Proto-Austronesian *baSaq.

Noun

bâ

1. flood

Irish

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /bˠɑ(h)/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /bˠɑ/
• (Connemara, Mayo) IPA^(key): /bˠa/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /bˠah/

Noun

ba f pl

1. plural of bó

   Tá na ba sa mhá. ― The cows are in the field.

Etymology 2

From Old Irish ba.

Alternative forms

• (affirmative): b’ (used before a vowel sound except for the pronouns é, í, iad, ea)
• (relative): ab (used before a vowel sound)
• badh (archaic)
• budh (superseded)
• dob, dob' (dialectal equivalent of b’)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bˠə/

Particle

ba (triggers lenition)

1. past/conditional affirmative of is

   Ba é Dónall an múinteoir. ― Dónall was the teacher.

   Ba mhaith liom cupán tae. ― I would like a cup of tea.

2. past/conditional direct relative of is (used to introduce the comparative/superlative form of adjectives)

   fear ba shine ná m'athair ― a man (who was) older than my father

Related terms

Mutation

References

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈba/
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: bà

Interjection

ba

1. bah!
2. oh well!

Anagrams

• ab-

Japanese

Romanization

ba

1. Rōmaji transcription of ば
2. Rōmaji transcription of バ

Kriol

Preposition

ba

1. Alternative form of blanga

Lhao Vo

Etymology

Uncertain.

Noun

ba

1. sun

Verb

ba

1. to know; to understand.

References

• Dr. Ola Hanson, A Dictionary of the Kachin Language (1906).

Malagasy

Etymology 1

From English bar.

Noun

ba

1. (music) bar; measure

Etymology 2

From French bas (“stocking”).

Noun

ba

1. stockings; socks
2. knitting

Mandarin

Pronunciation

Romanization

ba (ba⁵／ba⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄅㄚ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 吧, 罷／罢

ba

1. Nonstandard spelling of bā.
2. Nonstandard spelling of bá.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bǎ.
4. Nonstandard spelling of bà.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

Etymology

Form of *bān, from (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

Verb

bā

1. Imperative form of of *bān (“to kiss”)

Miraya Bikol

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bahaq, from Proto-Austronesian *baSaq.

Noun

bâ

1. flood

Nias

Preposition

ba

1. in, at, on (general preposition for locative adjuncts)

References

• Sundermann, Heinrich. 1905. Niassisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Moers: Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, p. 22–23.

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *HwáHatah (“wind”) (compare Avestan 𐬬𐬁𐬙𐬋 (vātō), Pashto and Persian باد (bâd)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *HwáHatas (“wind”) (compare Sanskrit वात (vā́ta)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“blowing”), present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Noun

ba m (Arabic spelling با‎)

1. weather
2. wind

Declension

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• bad

Verb

ba

1. simple past of be

Old Irish

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• (2nd sg. pres. subj.): be

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ba]

Verb

ba

1. inflection of is:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative
   3. third-person singular preterite/imperfect indicative nonrelative/relative

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [va(ː)]

Conjunction

ba

1. Alternative form of fa (“or”)

Old Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ba. First attested in 1414.

Particle

ba

1. nay, or rather, or should I say, moreover, hell used to say that what has been said thus far is true, but could be said more accurately
2. transition particle; well, well then

Descendants

• Polish: ba

References

• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “ba”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Phalura

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/

Particle

ba (discourse, Perso-Arabic spelling بہ)

1. Marker with a (switch-)topic function (variously corresponding to 'and, however, instead, as for, but')

References

• Liljegren, Henrik; Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[2], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Phuthi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-báa.

Verb

-ba

1. to be
2. to become

Inflection

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish ba, from Proto-Slavic *ba. First attested in 1414.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: ba

Particle

ba

1. nay, or rather, or should I say, moreover, hell used to say that what has been said thus far is true, but could be said more accurately

   Synonyms: mało tego, więcej

   To danie jest dobre, ba, przepyszne. ― This dish is good, nay, delicious!

2. duh, obviously used when the speaker believes what has been said is obvious

   "On jest trochę głupi, co?" "Ba!" ― "He's a little dumb, isn't he?" "Duh".

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• ba in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• ba in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• “ba”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish], 2010-2022
• Barbara Rykiel-Kempf (19.01.2017), “BA”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807-1814), “ba”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “ba”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “ba”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 77

Romagnol

Alternative forms

• bab

Etymology

From Latin *babbus (“dad”), of Onomatopoeic origin.

Pronunciation

• (Central Romagnol): IPA^(key): [ˈbaɐ̯]

Noun

ba m (plural bëb)

1. father, dad

   Ba ’d famèja ― Paterfamilias

References

• Masotti, Adelmo (1999) Vocabolario Romagnolo Italiano (in Italian), Zanichelli
• Ercolani, Libero (1971) Vocabolario Romagnolo-Italiano, Monte di Ravenna, page 33

Shona

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-jíba.

Verb

-bá (infinitive kubá)

1. to steal

Spanish

Verb

ba

1. Alternative form of va

Sumerian

Romanization

ba

1. Romanization of 𒁀 (ba)

Swazi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-báa.

Verb

-ba

1. to be
2. to become

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑː/

Adverb

ba (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Apocopic form of bara, corresponds to ”was (just) like” or ”just”.

Anagrams

• AB, Ab

Tagalog

Etymology 1

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ba₅, or shortened form of baga. Cognate with Cebuano ba and Malagasy va.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/, [bɐ]

Particle

ba (Baybayin spelling ᜊ)

1. marks a sentence as interrogative

   Synonyms: (dialectal) ga, (dialectal) baga, (obsolete) kaya

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/, [bɐ]

Interjection

ba (Baybayin spelling ᜊ)

1. Clipping of aba.

Etymology 3

Clipping of bulaga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaʔ/, [ˈbaʔ]

Interjection

bâ (Baybayin spelling ᜊ)

1. boo (used in play-scare with babies)

   Synonym: ga

Etymology 4

Influenced by Baybayin character ᜊ (ba).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/, [bɐ]

Noun

ba (Baybayin spelling ᜊ)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter B/b, in the Abakada alphabet.

   Synonyms: (in the Filipino alphabet) bi, (in the Abecedario) be

See also

• baba

Further reading

• “ba”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2018

Tiruray

Noun

ba

1. (anatomy) mouth

Uneapa

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *bʷa, possibly from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *ba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/

Verb

ba

1. to not be

   Synonym: bali

Further reading

• Terry Crowley et al, The Oceanic Languages (2013), page 374

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaː˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaː˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaː˧˧]

Etymology 1

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 爸 (“father”, SV: bả).

Noun

ba

1. (chiefly Southern Vietnam) father

Synonyms

• áng; bác; bọ; bố; cậu; cha; thầy; tía

Etymology 2

From Proto-Vietic *paː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *piʔ; cognate with Muong pa, Khmer បី (bei), Halang pe, Pacoh pe, Mon ပိ (pi).

Numeral

ba • (𠀧, 巴)

1. three

Adjective

ba • (𠀧, 巴)

1. (Southern Vietnam, of a sibling) secondborn

   anh/chị ba ― second eldest brother/sister

   bác ba ― second eldest brother/sister of one's parent

   chú ba ― secondborn younger brother of one's father

Derived terms

Determiner

ba

1. (colloquial) some, an indefinite quantity greater than one

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 波.

Noun

ba

1. (only in compounds) wave; ripple

Derived terms

See also

• sóng

Volapük

Adverb

ba

1. perhaps

West Albay Bikol

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bahaq, from Proto-Austronesian *baSaq.

Noun

bâ

1. flood

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/

Noun

ba

1. the vagina

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[3], Pacific linguistics

Xhosa

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-báa.

Verb

-ba

1. to be
2. to become

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Yapese

Verb

ba

1. (auxiliary) to be (doing something); forms the present tense

Yola

Alternative forms

• bee, be, b'

Etymology

From Middle English been, from Old English bēon, from Proto-West Germanic *beun.

Verb

ba (inflected forms aam, yarth, ez, beeth, bin, waz, wasth, war)

1. be, been
2. are

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 24

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bà/

Verb

bà

1. to ferment

   kòkó ti bà ― The cocoa seeds have fermented

2. to carry out the process of fermentation on seeds or plants

Usage notes

• ba before a direct object

Derived terms

• ìbà (“act of fermenting”)
• ìdíbá-nǹkan (“fermentation”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bà/

Verb

bà

1. (horticulture) to plant seeds in prepared pots for future transplanting into a farm (when it becomes an established seedling)

   ba òrom̀bó ― To plant lemon seeds for future transplanting

Usage notes

• ba before a direct object

Derived terms

• ìbà

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bà/

Verb

bà

1. to press a wound; to apply a warm compress on a wound

   Synonym: mọ́

   ba ojú egbò ― To apply a warm compress to a wound

Usage notes

• ba before a direct object

Derived terms

• ìbà

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bà/

Verb

bà

1. to hit (with an impact)

   ọfà á bà wọ́n ― The arrow hit them

2. to be overcome with fear (literally, to be hit with fear)

   ẹ̀rú bà wá ― Fear overcame us

3. (usually used with ilẹ̀) to be too long or oversized (to hit the ground)

   agbádá yìí bà mí nílẹ̀ ― The agbada was too big for me

4. to perch

   Lékeléke bà mí lékè, ẹyẹ àdàbà bà mí lékè ― An egret perched on me, a dove perched on me

5. to braid; to plait

   Synonym: dì

Usage notes

• ba before a direct object

Derived terms

• ìbà
• dẹ́rù bà (“to scare”)
• bẹ̀rù (“to fear”)
• ìbẹ̀rù (“fear”)

Zaghawa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba/

Noun

ba

1. arm

References

• Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad

Zoogocho Zapotec

Etymology 1

Cognate with Yatzachi Zapotec ba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba˦/

Noun

ba

1. hot weather (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• chex̱ba
• gwba
• lagüeꞌ ba

Etymology 2

Cognate with Isthmus Zapotec baꞌ, Yatzachi Zapotec ba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba˩/

Noun

ba

1. grave, tomb

Etymology 3

Cognate with Yatzachi Zapotec ba-.

Adverb

ba

1. already

References

• Long C., Rebecca; Cruz M., Sofronio (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 38)‎^[4] (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 3

Zou

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba˧/

Verb

ba

1. (transitive) to owe

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba˧˩/

Noun

bà

1. bat (mammal)

References

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, pages 44, 45

Zulu

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-báa.

Verb

-ba

1. to be
2. to become

Inflection

References

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “-ɓa”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ɓa”