bocha

See also: bòcha

English

A bocha in Kolkata, India (1790s)

Alternative forms

• bochah, boçhah, bocho, boutcha

Etymology

From Hindi बौचा (baucā).

Noun

bocha (plural bochas)

1. (India, historical) A two-door sedan chair.
   • 1825, John Borthwick Gilchrist editing Thomas Williamson as The General East India Guide and Vade Mecum..., Appendix No. IV, pp. 652 & 658:

     When the compilation by Williamson was first examined in order to correct his vulgar mode of spelling Hindoostanee words, a good while since, the number seemed so formidable, that innovation, even from a wrong system to a right one, was then indefinitely suspended; but... it would be unjust to postpone emendation any farther... incorrect... bochah,... correct... bocha.

   • 1868 February 7, "Englishman", "Attempted Assassination of Sir Salar Jung...", Hyderabad Times, Vol. III, p. 41:

     Sir Salar Jung was proceeding to the palace of the Nizam on his bocha, a sort of state palanquin, in order to be present at the customary Eed durbar... when two shots in rapid succession were fired.

   • 1931, Server Jung Bahadur, translated by Bahadur Yar Jung, My Life, page 139:

     […] the Amir-i-Kabir, seated in a "Bocha" (palanquin), had also arrived at the gate of the Royal Palace […]

   • 1995, The India Magazine of Her People and Culture, volume 16, page 17:

     […] the bocha, the chair-palanquin […]

Translations

Translations

• Hindi: बौचा (baucā)

References

• Henry Yule; A[rthur] C[oke] Burnell (1903), “bocha”, in William Crooke, editor, Hobson-Jobson […] , London: John Murray, […].

Galician

Bocha ("blister")

Alternative forms

• bosa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔt͡ʃa̝/

Etymology 1

Either onomatopoeic or from Latin pustula (“pimple”), but influenced by Latin botulus (“sausage”). Compare also bostela.

Noun

bocha f (plural bochas)

1. blister

   Synonym: ampola

2. pimple, pustule
3. a kind of sausage

Related terms

• boche
• bochecha

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Pre-Greekbor.?

Ancient Greek βοῦττις (boûttis)der.

Byzantine Greek βούττια (boúttia)bor.

Vulgar Latin *buttia

Italian bocciabor.

Galician bocha

Borrowed from Italian boccia, from Vulgar Latin *buttia, borrowed from Byzantine Greek βούττια (boúttia, plural of βούττιον (boúttion)), from Ancient Greek βοῦττις (boûttis), possibly borrowed from Pre-Greek.

Noun

bocha f (plural bochas)

1. spherical body
2. bowling ball

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “bocha”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “bocha 'vexiga'”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “bocha”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin bucca. Gallo-Romance cognate with Old French boche.

Noun

bocha f (oblique plural bochas, nominative singular bocha, nominative plural bochas)

1. mouth (anatomy)

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• boccia (Portugal)
• botcha (Brazil)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Pre-Greekbor.?

Ancient Greek βοῦττις (boûttis)der.

Byzantine Greek βούττια (boúttia)bor.

Vulgar Latin *buttia

Italian bocciabor.

Portuguese bocha

Borrowed from Italian boccia, from Vulgar Latin *buttia, borrowed from Byzantine Greek βούττια (boúttia, plural of βούττιον (boúttion)), from Ancient Greek βοῦττις (boûttis), possibly borrowed from Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.ʃɐ/, /ˈbɔ.t͡ʃɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.ʃɐ/, /ˈbɔ.t͡ʃɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.ʃa/, /ˈbɔ.t͡ʃa/

Noun

bocha f (plural bochas)

1. (Brazil) bowls; lawn bowls (sport where players roll balls such that they stop as close as possible to another ball)

   Synonym: bowls

2. (Brazil) bowl (ball thrown by the player in lawn bowls)

Further reading

• “bocha”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “bocha”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbot͡ʃa/ [ˈbo.t͡ʃa]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -otʃa
• Syllabification: bo‧cha

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Pre-Greekbor.?

Ancient Greek βοῦττις (boûttis)der.

Byzantine Greek βούττια (boúttia)bor.

Vulgar Latin *buttia

Italian bocciabor.

Spanish bocha

Borrowed from Italian boccia, from Vulgar Latin *buttia, borrowed from Byzantine Greek βούττια (boúttia, plural of βούττιον (boúttion)), from Ancient Greek βοῦττις (boûttis), possibly borrowed from Pre-Greek.

Noun

bocha f (plural bochas)

1. bowl (ball thrown in the game of bowls)
2. (in the plural) bowls (sport)

Etymology 2

Noun

bocha f (uncountable)

1. canary clover

   Synonym: boja peluda

Etymology 3

Noun

bocha f (plural bochas)

1. female equivalent of bocho

Adjective

bocha f

1. feminine singular of bocho

Etymology 4

Verb

bocha

1. inflection of bochar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “bocha”, 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