# cua
## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin cōda, early monophthongized variant of Latin cauda. Compare Occitan coa, French queue, Spanish cola.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈku.ə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈku.a]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

cua f (plural cues)
* tail
* queue, (line)
    les italianes es van saltar la cua ― the Italian girls skipped the line
* ponytail (hairdo)

#### Derived terms

* capicua
* cua de cavall
* cua de guilla
* cua de guineu
* cua de rabosa
* cua de ventall
* cua-roig
* cuaample
* cuablau
* cuacurt
* cuaespinós
* cuafí
* cuaforcat
* cuallarg
* cuat
* cuejar
* cuereta
* cueta
* saltar-se la cua

### Further reading

* “cua” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “cua” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Classical Nahuatl
### Alternative forms

* qua

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kʷa/

### Verb

cua
* (transitive) To eat.

#### Derived terms

* tlacualli

## Franco-Provençal
### Noun

cua
* Alternative form of cova (“tail”)

## Old English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈkuː.ɑ/

### Noun

cūa
* genitive plural of cū

## Vietnamese
### Pronunciation

* (Hà Nội) IPA: [kuə˧˧]
* (Huế) IPA: [kuə˧˧]
* (Saigon) IPA: [kuə˧˧]

### Etymology 1
#### Noun

(classifier con) cua • (𧍏, 𧍆, 姑, 𩸰)
* crab (a crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura)

##### Derived terms

* càng cua
* cầy móc cua
* chắc như cua gạch
* cua bấy
* cua bể
* cua biển
* cua bò
* cua dẽ
* cua dừa
* cua đá
* cua đồng
* cua gạch
* cua kí cư
* cua nước
* cua óp
* cua thịt
* đầu cua tai nheo
* đồng mắt cua
* nói ngang như cua

##### See also

* dã tràng (“sand-bubbler crab”); ghẹ (“swimming crab”); cúm (“Calappa”)
* càng (“pincer”)

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from French courtiser or French cour.

#### Verb

cua
* (Southern Vietnam, slang) to take out a girl
    Synonym: cưa

### Etymology 3

Borrowed from French cours.

#### Noun

cua
* (dated, informal) corner, curve, bend (point where a route changes sharply)
    Xe chạy qua cua. ― The car rounded a corner.
* (informal) period, term, round (period of time required to complete a task)
    theo học một cua ngoại ngữ ― to study a foreign language for a term
    Học mỗi cua ba tháng. ― Each term of study is three months.

#### Adjective

cua
* (informal) having a buzzcut, crewcut
    đầu húi cua ― a buzzcut haircut

### References

* "cua" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)

## White Hmong
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /cuə̯˧/

### Etymology 1

From Proto-Hmong *cu̯aᶜ (“to chew”), borrowed from Middle Chinese 嚼 (MC dzjak, “to chew”).

#### Verb

cua
* to chew hard, bite hard (on something)
    Tus aub cua pob txha. ― The dog chews on bone.

##### Derived terms

* cua nab (“earthworm”)

### Etymology 2

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *N-cæwH (“wind”).

#### Noun

cua (classifier: tw or nthwv (for gusts))
* the wind
    Cov cua tshuab ceev heev ― The wind blows very fast
    Cov cua twj cuab huv dua cua nruab nroog. ― The air in the suburbs is cleaner than the air in the city.
* (figuratively) the carrier of death, normally represented by the bamboo carriage made to carry the dead
    Nws lub tsev muaj cua. ― His home has death.
    Nws ua neeb xa cua. ― He performs a shaman ritual to send away death.

##### Derived terms

* cua daj cua dub (“bad windy storm; hurricane, typhoon”)

### References

* Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎, SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 18.
* ↑ Ratliff, Martha (2010) Hmong-Mien language history (Studies in Language Change; 8), Camberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics, →ISBN, page 249; 273.
* ↑ Ratliff, Martha (2010) Hmong-Mien language history (Studies in Language Change; 8), Camberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics, →ISBN, page 273.