boba

See also: bộ ba, боба, and Boba

English

Etymology

From Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “tapioca pearls” [literally: “big balls]”), from 波 (bo1) (itself from English ball) and 霸 (baa3, “chief, top”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈboʊ.bə/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbəʊ.bə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

boba (countable and uncountable, plural bobas)

1. Synonym of tapioca pearl.
   • 2024 September 16, Priya Krishna, “The Customized Drink Is Out of Control”, in The New York Times‎^[1], 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?)

2. Ellipsis of boba tea.
   • 2021 April 16, Kellen Browning, “Another Unlikely Pandemic Shortage: Boba Tea”, in The New York Times‎^[2], 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?)

3. (colloquial, slang) A breast, especially that of an adult or adolescent female human.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:breasts

See also

• boba liberal

References

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

Anagrams

• abob, boab

Antigua and Barbuda Creole English

Etymology

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

Noun

boba (plural boba dem, quantified boba)

1. clothes

Gagauz

Alternative forms

• buba

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boˈbɑ/
• Hyphenation: bo‧ba

Noun

boba (definite accusative bobayı, plural bobalar, diminutive bobacık)

1. father
2. axle

Declension

Declension of boba

	singular (tekil)	plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın)	boba	bobalar
definite accusative (belirtme)	bobayı	bobaları
dative (yönelme)	bobaya	bobalara
locative (bulunma)	bobada	bobalarda
ablative (çıkma)	bobadan	bobalaran
genitive (tamlayan)	bobanın	bobaların

Derived terms

• ana-boba
• boba hakı
• bobalık

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

boba

Etymology

From English boba.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈboba/ [ˈbo.ba]
• Rhymes: -oba
• Syllabification: bo‧ba

Noun

boba (plural boba-boba)

1. (cooking) boba

Further reading

• “boba”, 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

Italian

Alternative forms

• bobba, bobbia

Etymology

Perhaps of Slavic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.ba/
• Rhymes: -ɔba
• Hyphenation: bò‧ba

Noun

boba f (plural bobe)

1. slime, slush

   Synonyms: melma, poltiglia

2. pigswill, slop

   Synonyms: brodaglia, sbobba

3. (figurative) verbose, nonsensical writing

Further reading

• boba² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Japanese

Romanization

boba

1. 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

1. old woman
2. woman

   To bobai padavė raktus nuo regalijų saugyklos.

   The woman of that one was given the keys of the depository of the regalia.

3. wife
4. (colloquial, derogatory) wuss

   Synonym: bobinykas

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

Boba (1).

Boba (2).

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbobɑ/
• Hyphenation: bo‧ba
• Rhymes: -obɑ

Noun

boba

1. toy
2. flower

Declension

Declension of boba (Type 2/boba, b-v gradation)
	singular	plural
nominative	boba	bovat
genitive	bovan	boviin
partitive	bobua	bobii
illative	bobah	bobiih
inessive	bovas	boviis
elative	bovaspäi	boviispäi
allative	bovale	boviile
adessive	boval	boviil
ablative	bovalpäi	boviilpäi
translative	bovakse	boviikse
essive	bovannu	boviinnu
abessive	bovattah	boviittah
comitative	bovanke	boviinke
instructive		boviin
prolative	bovači

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^(key): /ˈbɔ.ba/
• Rhymes: -ɔba
• Syllabification: bo‧ba

Noun

boba

1. genitive singular of bob
2. nominative dual of bob
3. accusative dual of bob

Polish

Pronunciation

• (Greater Poland):
  • (Central Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈbɔ.ba]

Noun

boba f

1. (Central Greater Poland, Września County) alternative form of baba (“winter cap”) (men's winter hat of medium height, made of cloth, navy blue, with a bottom sometimes in a square shape, with a gray or black lambskin around it)
2. (Poznań) alternative form of baba (“cap”)

Further reading

• Jan Karłowicz (1900), “baba”, in Słownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 1: A do E, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 27
• Waldemar Wierzba (2013), “boba”, in Słownik Poznańskie słowa i ausdrucki (in Polish), 1st edition, Mierzyn: Albus, →ISBN, page 28
• Monika Gruchmanowa, Bogdan Walczak, editors (1997), “boba”, in Słownik gwary miejskiej Poznania, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.bɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.bɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.ba/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.bɐ/ [ˈbo.βɐ]

• Rhymes: -obɐ
• Hyphenation: bo‧ba

Adjective

boba

1. feminine singular of bobo

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

boba (Cyrillic spelling боба)

1. genitive singular of bob

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboba/ [ˈbo.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -oba
• Syllabification: bo‧ba

Etymology 1

See bobo.

Adjective

boba

1. feminine singular of bobo

Noun

boba

1. female equivalent of bobo

Etymology 2

boba (1)

boba (2)

Borrowed from English boba, ultimately from Cantonese 波霸 (bo¹ baa³, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbouba/ [ˈbou̯.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -ouba

Noun

boba m (plural bobas)

1. synonym of perlas de tapioca (“tapioca pearls”)
2. 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 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish boba.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

boba (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜊ)

1. 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^[3]:

     "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)

1. female equivalent of bobo: stupid woman; foolish woman

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbo.ba/

Verb

boba

1. (stative) to call, summon

   boba ti baba ― call your father

Conjugation

Conjugation of boba (stative verb)

		singular	plural
			inclusive	exclusive
1st person		tiboba	miboba	aboba
2nd person		niboba	fiboba
3rd person	inanimate	iboba	diboba
	animate	maboba
imperative		—, boba	—, boba

Alternative forms

• buba

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[4], Pacific linguistics