# boba
## English
### Etymology

From the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”), from 波 (bo1) transcribing English ball and 霸 (baa3, “chief, top”).

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˈboʊ.bə/
* (UK) IPA: /ˈbəʊ.bə/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Noun

boba (countable and uncountable, plural bobas)
* Synonym of tapioca pearl.
** 2024 September 16, Priya Krishna, “The Customized Drink Is Out of Control”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:She settled on the Chai Frappé Burst, a frozen, blended concoction with whipped cream, boba and cinnamon sugar sprinkles.(Can we archive this URL?)
* Ellipsis of boba tea.
** 2021 April 16, Kellen Browning, “Another Unlikely Pandemic Shortage: Boba Tea”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:“I was shocked,” said Leanne Yuen, a longtime boba drinker and a student at the University of California, Irvine. “What am I going to do now?”(Can we archive this URL?)

### See also

* boba liberal

### References

* “boba, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

### Anagrams

* abob, boab

## Gagauz
### Alternative forms

* buba

### Etymology

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish ببا (baba), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Turkish baba.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /boˈbɑ/
* Hyphenation: bo‧ba

### Noun

boba (definite accusative bobayı, plural bobalar, dimunitive bobacık)
* father
* axle

#### Derived terms

* ana-boba
* boba hakı
* bobalık

### References

* ↑ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “baba”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

### Further reading

* Ciachir, Mihail (1938) “boba”, in Dicționar gagauzo (tiurco)–român pentru gagauzii din Basarabia (in Romanian), Chișinău
* N. A Baskakov, editor (1972), “boba”, in Gagauzsko-Russko-Moldavskij Slovarʹ [Gagauz-Russian-Moldovan Dictionary], Moskva: Izdatelʹstvo Sovetskaja Enciklopedija, →ISBN
* Kopuşçu M. İ. , Todorova S. A. , Kiräkova T.İ., editors (2019), Gagauzça-rusça sözlük: klaslar 5-12, Komrat: Gagauziya M.V. Maruneviç adına Bilim-Aaraştırma merkezi, →ISBN
* Mavrodi M. F., editor (2019), Gagauzça-rusça sözlük: klaslar 1-4, Komrat: Gagauziya M.V. Maruneviç adına Bilim-Aaraştırma merkezi, →ISBN

## Indonesian
### Etymology

From English boba, from the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”), from 波 (bo1) transcribing English ball and 霸 (baa3, “chief, top”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈboba]
* Hyphenation: bo‧ba

### Noun

boba (plural)
* (cooking) boba
** tapioca pearl.
** boba tea.

### Further reading

* “boba” 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.

## Italian
### Alternative forms

* bobba, bobbia

### Etymology

Perhaps of Slavic origin.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbɔ.ba/
* Rhymes: -ɔba
* Hyphenation: bò‧ba

### Noun

boba f (plural bobe)
* slime, slush
    Synonyms: melma, poltiglia
* pigswill, slop
    Synonyms: brodaglia, sbobba
* (figurative) verbose, nonsensical writing

### Further reading

* boba$^2$ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

## Japanese
### Romanization

boba
* Rōmaji transcription of ぼば

## Lithuanian
### Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *bā́ˀbāˀ. Cognate with Proto-Slavic *baba (“old woman”).

### Noun

bóba f stress pattern 1
* old woman
* woman
* wife

### References

* Derksen, Rick (2008) Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 4), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 32
* “boba”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012

## Livvi
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbobɑ/
* Hyphenation: bo‧ba
* Rhymes: -obɑ

### Noun

boba
* toy
* flower

#### Declension
### References

* Tatjana Boiko (2019) “boba”, in Suuri Karjal-Venʹalaine Sanakniigu (livvin murreh) [The Big Karelian-Russian dictionary (Livvi dialect)], 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 26

## Lower Sorbian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈbɔba]

### Noun

boba
* genitive singular of bob
* nominative dual of bob
* accusative dual of bob

## Portuguese
### Adjective

boba
* feminine singular of bobo

## Serbo-Croatian
### Noun

boba (Cyrillic spelling боба)
* genitive singular of bob

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈboba/ [ˈbo.β̞a]
* Rhymes: -oba
* Syllabification: bo‧ba

### Etymology 1

See bobo.

#### Adjective

boba
* feminine singular of bobo

#### Noun

boba
* female equivalent of bobo

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from English boba, ultimately from Cantonese 波霸 (bo$^1$ baa$^3$, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”).

#### Noun

boba m (plural bobas)
* Synonym of perlas de tapioca (“tapioca pearls”)
* Short for té de boba (“boba tea”).
    ¿Podemos tomar otro boba?Can we have another boba?

### Further reading

“boba”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Tagalog
### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish boba.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Tagalog) IPA: /ˈboba/ [ˈboː.bɐ]
* Rhymes: -oba
* Syllabification: bo‧ba

### Adjective

boba (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜊ)
* feminine of bobo: stupid; dumb
** 2020, Jan Milo Severo, “'It's so fake': Vivian Velez goes viral for comparing Robredo's look to Miss Tapia”, in The Philippine Star‎:"Obviously, they want to make her look smarter (kasi nga boba) with those glasses on and books on the table, not to mention the color choice of her outfit. Ano 'to, shooting? Playing 'the president' daw sya?" she added.(please add an English translation of this quotation)

### Noun

boba (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜊ)
* female equivalent of bobo: stupid woman; foolish woman

## West Makian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbo.ba/

### Verb

boba
* (stative) to call, summon
    boba ti baba ― call your father

#### Alternative forms

* buba

### References

* Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎, Pacific linguistics