babka

See also: babką and bábka

English

Etymology

From a Slavic language likely via Yiddish באַבקע‎ (babke). Compare baba, in the sense of "rum soaked cake".

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑb.kə/

Noun

babka (plural babkas)

1. A Central and Eastern European coffee cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins.

Translations

coffee cake

• Finnish: baba (fi)
• French: babka (fr) m
• Polish: babka (pl) f
• Russian: ба́ба (ru) f (bába)
• Yiddish: באַבקע‎ f (babke)

Anagrams

• kabab

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbapka]
• Rhymes: -apka

Noun

babka f

1. (informal) old woman

   Synonym: → stařena

2. the mushroom Xerocomellus chrysenteron

   Synonym: hřib žlutomasý

Declension

Declension of babka

	singular	plural
nominative	babka	babky
genitive	babky	babek
dative	babce	babkám
accusative	babku	babky
vocative	babko	babky
locative	babce	babkách
instrumental	babkou	babkami

Related terms

• baba
• sýkora babka
• za babku

 

Further reading

• babka in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• babka in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• babka in Internetová jazyková příručka

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

baba +‎ -ka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbapka]

Noun

babka f

1. Diminutive of baba
2. midwife.

Declension

Declension of babka

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	babka	babce	babki
Genitive	babki	babkowu	babkow
Dative	babce	babkoma	babkam
Accusative	babku	babce	babki
Instrumental	babku	babkoma	babkami
Locative	babce	babkoma	babkach

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928), “babka”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999), “babka”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Old Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *babъka. By surface analysis, baba +‎ -ka. First attested in the second half of the 14th century.

Noun

babka f

1. Diminutive of baba (“grandma, parent's mother”)
2. Diminutive of baba (“midwife”)
3. (in the plural, astronomy) Diminutive of baba (“Pleiades”)
4. plantain
   1. greater plantain (Plantago major)
   2. ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
   3. hoary plantain, Plantago media

Declension

Declension of babka

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	babka	—	babki
genitive	—	—	—
dative	—	—	—
accusative	babkę	babce	—
instrumental	—	—	—
locative	—	—	—
vocative	—	—	—

Descendants

• Polish: babka

References

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

Polish

babka (#1)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish babka, from Proto-Slavic *babъka. By surface analysis, baba +‎ -ka. First attested in the second half of the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbap.ka/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -apka
• Syllabification: bab‧ka

Noun

babka f (diminutive babeczka)

1. Diminutive of baba.
2. babka (a type of cake)

   Synonym: baba

3. grandmother

   Synonyms: baba, babcia, babunia

4. (colloquial) woman

   Synonyms: babeczka, kobieta

5. (historical) medicine woman
6. sandcastle

   Synonym: babka z piasku

7. plantain (any plant of the genus Plantago)
8. any fish of the genus Perciformes

Declension

Declension of babka

	singular	plural
nominative	babka	babki
genitive	babki	babek
dative	babce	babkom
accusative	babkę	babki
instrumental	babką	babkami
locative	babce	babkach
vocative	babko	babki

Derived terms

adjectives

• babczany
• babkowaty

 

nouns

• babka bycza
• babka lancetowata
• babka piaskowa
• babka z piasku
• babkowate
• cioteczna babka
• ciuciubabka
• stryjeczna babka
• ślepa babka

 

phrase

• na dwoje babka wróżyła

 

Further reading

• babka in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• babka in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• “babka”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish], 2010-2022
• Paweł Kupiszewski (19.12.2018), “BABKA”, 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), “babka”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “babka”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “babka”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 78
• babka in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego