ca

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ca"

Languages (44)

A-Pucikwar • Albanian • Alutiiq • Asturian • Basay • Canela • Catalan • Central Nahuatl • Chibcha • Classical Nahuatl • Dinka • Fala • Fijian • French • Galician • Hausa • Ido • Indonesian • Italian • Kayan • Ladin • Linngithigh • Lolopo • Mandarin • Muong • Neapolitan • Old English • Pali • Piedmontese • Portuguese • Romagnol • Romanian • Romansch • Scots • Southwestern Dinka • Spanish • Swedish • Tarantino • Tày • Vietnamese • Welsh • Yao

Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of Catalan català or English Catalan.

Symbol

ca

(international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Catalan.

English

Preposition

ca

Alternative spelling of ca..

Anagrams

A.C., a-c, ac., ℀, ac-, ac, a/c, AC, -ac, Ac, a.c., A/C

A-Pucikwar

Etymology

From Proto-Great Andamanese *ciəp.

Noun

ca

Verb

ca

to adjoin
to fasten

References

Juliette Blevins, Linguistic clues to Andamanese pre-history: Understanding the North-South divide, pg. 20 & 22 (2009)

Albanian

Alternative forms

disa

Etymology

From the contracted form of disa, dsa.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t͡sa/

Pronoun

ca (dative cave)

some

Derived terms

Related terms

sa
di

References

^ Çabej, E. (1987), “ca”, in Studime etimologjike në fushë të shqipes (in Albanian), volumes III: C–D, Tirana, page 4

Alutiiq

Etymology

From Proto-Eskimo *cu(na)- base, “nothing, anything”

Interjection

ca

I don’t know
Cacaq ang’aqurtau’u? -Ca.
What is she carrying? -I don’t know.

References

Fortescue, Michael. Comparative Eskimo Dictionary with Aleut Cognates. Alaska Native Language Center, 2010
Leer, Jeff. Classroom Grammar of Koniag Alutiiq, Kodiak Island Dialect, Volume 1, Alaska Native Language Center, 1990

Asturian

Etymology 1

From Latin quia.

Conjunction

ca

because
Nun mientas, ca dir foi.
Don't lie, because he did go.

Ca inda son piores qu’estudiantes.
Because they are still worse than students.

Etymology 2

Shortening of casa from Latin casa.

Noun

ca f (plural cas)

(in certain contexts) house
Taben en ca Xuan
They were at Xuan's house

Usage notes

The form ca is used only before a proper noun or pronoun, usually the house's owner, and is equivalent to saying "casa de". Additionally, the form "p'en ca" would be equivalent to "pa casa de" (for X's house) and "an ca" would be equivalent to "contra casa de" (towards X's house).

Esta ye ca Antón ― This is Antón's house

Esta casa ye d'Antón ― This house is Antón's

Esta comida ye p'en ca Antón ― This food is for Antón's house

Esta comida ye pa la casa onde vive Antón ― This food is for the house where Antón resides

Adjective

ca

alternative form of cada

Adverb

ca

alternative form of acá

Interjection

¡ca!

interjection of negation (no way!) or incredulity
-¿Vas pa la sablera comigo? -¡Cá! Ye mui peligroso con esti tiempu
Are you going to the beach with me? -No way! It's too dangerous with this weather

Basay

Etymology

From Proto-Austronesian *əsa.

Numeral

ca

one

Canela

Etymology

From Proto-Northern Jê *ga (“to roast (singular)”), from Proto-Cerrado *ga (“to roast (singular)”), from Proto-Jê [Term?], from Proto-Macro-Jê *ap .

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ka/

Verb

ca (cu-class; non-finite xàr)

roast on embers (singular)
Incrô na imã tep ca.
Roast a fish (wrapped up in banana leaves) on the embers for me.

Catalan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈka]
Audio (Catalonia): (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin canis, canem (“dog”).

Noun

ca m (plural cans)

dog
Synonym: gos m

Usage notes

This term is used in Catalonia or Valencia only in stock phrases, with gos (feminine gossa) being the term generally used for a dog.
In the Balearics, ca has retained its use as the primary word for a dog. However, instead of a feminine of ca, *cana, being used for a female dog, in the Balearics, cussa, the feminine of cus (“little dog”) is used.
Note also that those breeds of dogs that originated in the Balearics use ca and not gos to form name of the breed.

Hyponyms

(Balearics) cus m (“little dog”), (Balearics) cussa f (“female dog”)
gos m (“male dog”), gossa f (“female dog”)

Derived terms

acanissar (“to sic a dog on”)
ca de bestiar (“Majorca Shepherd Dog”)
ca de bou (“Majorca Mastiff”)
ca eivissenc (“Ibizan Hound”)
Ca Major (“Canis Major”)
ca mè mallorquí (“Majorcan Pointer”)
ca petaner
ca rater mallorquí (“Majorcan Ratter”)

Etymology 2

Noun

ca f (plural cas)

the letter K (lowercase k)

Usage notes

The letter K is not used in native Catalan words and thus its presence in a word is a fairly reliable indicator of a recent import.

Etymology 3

Apocopated form of casa. Compare French chez, Spanish ca, Italian ca'.

Particle

ca

the house (of)
Anem a ca la Maria. ― We are going to Maria’s house.

Aquell casalot és cal Ramon. ― That mansion is Ramon’s house.

Parlem català a ca nostra. ― We speak Catalan at our house.

Usage notes

When followed by one of the articles el, els, en, and es, the word ca contracts with them into cal, cals, can, and cas, respectively.

Derived terms

cal, cals, can, cas

Central Nahuatl

Verb

ca

To be.

Chibcha

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ka/

Noun

ca

fence

References

Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

Classical Nahuatl

Verb

ca

to be in a location

Usage notes

Ca is an irregular verb; its plural form is cate.

Particle

ca

Used in affirmative statements.

This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Dinka

Noun

ca (plural caak)

milk (from cattle)

Hyponyms

anuɔu (“colostrum”)
areu (“residual milk”)
ayok (“milk foam”)
duɛt (“milk in one's mouth”)
gueer (“fresh milk”)
pou (“raw, unpasteurised milk”)

References

Roger Blench (2005), Dinka-English Dictionary‎^[1], page 33

Fala

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈka/
Rhymes: -a
Syllabification: ca

Adverb

ca

(Valverdeñu) alternative form of acá (“here”)

References

Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[2], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 71

Fijian

Adjective

ca

Noun

ca

French

Preposition

ca

abbreviation of circa

Galician

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese ca (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin quam.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kɐ]

Conjunction

ca

than
Synonym: ca non

As miñas irmás son máis altas ca min.
My sisters are taller than I am.

Derived terms

ca non
có

Etymology 2

From Old Galician-Portuguese ca (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin quia.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [kɐ]

Conjunction

ca

(archaic) because, since

References

Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “ca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ca”, 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), “ca”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ca”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Hausa

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t͡ʃáː/, /t͡ʃâː/
- (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃáː], [t͡ʃâː]

Ideophone

cā or câ

splattering of boiling fat

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /tsa/

Determiner

ca (plural ci)

alternative form of ica (“this”)

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 炒 (chhá, “to stir fry; to sauté”).

Pronunciation

(Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃa/ [ˈt͡ʃa]
Rhymes: -a
Syllabification: ca

Noun

ca (plural ca-ca)

a kind of sautéed dish

Italian

Etymology 1

Preposition

ca

abbreviation of circa

Etymology 2

Inherited from a combination of Latin quam and quia.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈka/^°^[1]
Rhymes: -a
Hyphenation: cà

Conjunction

ca

(archaic or dialectal) that, because

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

cappa

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): ^**/ˈka/^*^[1]
Rhymes: -a

Noun

ca m or f (invariable)

The name of the Latin-script letter K/k.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ca in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams

AC, a.C., a.c.

Kayan

Noun

ca

brown.

Noun

ca

uncle, aunt.

Adjective

ca

brown.

Ladin

Adverb

ca

(Gherdëina) hither, to this place, to here, to me/us

Antonyms

via

Related terms

Linngithigh

Noun

ca

Lolopo

Etymology

From Proto-Loloish *tsaŋ¹ (Bradley). Cognate with Nuosu ꊿ (co).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [tsʰa³³]

Noun

ca

(Yao'an) person; people

Mandarin

Romanization

ca

nonstandard spelling of cā
nonstandard spelling of cǎ
nonstandard spelling of cà

Usage notes

Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Muong

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *r-kaː. Cognate with Vietnamese gà.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kaː¹/

Noun

ca

(Mường Bi) chicken
tàn ca ― a flock of chickens

References

Nguyễn Văn Khang; Bùi Chỉ; Hoàng Văn Hành (2002), Từ điển Mường - Việt (Muong - Vietnamese dictionary)‎^[3], Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Văn hoá Dân tộc Hà Nội.

Neapolitan

Etymology

Variant of che, from Latin quid, quod. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ka/

Adverb

ca

what

Conjunction

ca

than (comparison between adjectives only)
that (as in 'the boy that I saw' ("O guaglio' ca aggio visto"))

Pronoun

ca

Old English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kɑː/

Proper noun

cā m

jackdaw

References

Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Keyworth”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 298.

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

𑀘 (Brahmi script)
च (Devanagari script)
চ (Bengali script)
ච (Sinhalese script)
စ or ၸ (Burmese script)
จ or จะ (Thai script)
ᨧ (Tai Tham script)
ຈ or ຈະ (Lao script)
ច (Khmer script)
𑄌 (Chakma script)

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit च (ca).

Particle

ca

and (copulative particle)

Piedmontese

Alternative forms

(dialectal) cò

Etymology

Inherited from Latin casa. Compare Italian casa, Lombard cà.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈka/

Noun

ca f

house

Portuguese

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ/

Hyphenation: ca

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin quam. Compare Galician ca.

Conjunction

ca

(obsolete) than

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin quia.

Alternative forms

cá (misspelling)

Conjunction

ca

(obsolete or dialectal) for, because

Etymology 3

From ecthlipsis and crasis of com a.

Contraction

ca

(colloquial) contraction of com +‎ a: feminine singular of co
Synonym: coa (chiefly poetic)
- 2020, Emilio Carlos Boschilia, “Termos e Expressões Usados nos Tempos Pioneiros [Terms and Expressions Used in Pioneer Times]” (chapter 5), in O Jeito de Falar dos “Pé Vermeio”: Léxico, Falas e Expressões Idiomáticas dos Pioneiros no Norte do Paraná [The Redfoot Way of Speaking: Lexicon, Sayings and Idioms of Northern Paraná Pioneers]‎^[4], 1st edition (lexicon), Curitiba: self-published, →ISBN, archived from the original on 12 April 2023, page 119:
  [s. v. butuca] Fulana ficô de butuca até pegá o marido ca otra.
  Jane kept watchin’ on till she caught her husband wi’ the other [woman].

Etymology 4

Adverb

ca (not comparable)

obsolete spelling of cá
misspelling of cá

Romagnol

Etymology

From Latin casa (“house”).

Pronunciation

(Central Romagnol): IPA^(key): [ˈkaɐ̯]

Noun

ca f (invariable) (Ville Unite)

house
Ca brușêda ― Uninhabited house

Mètar so ca ― To get married

Ësar dla ca ― To be a frequent visitor

Fat in ca ― Homemade

Tus da ca ― Leave home
lineage
public building

Romanian

Alternative forms

ка (ca) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ka/
Rhymes: -a

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin quam. The expression ca și may derive from Latin quasi.

Adverb

ca

than
Am o carte mai bună ca aceasta. ― I have a better book than this one.
as
Filmul este tot așa de interesant ca romanul. ― The movie is as interesting as the novel is.

Conjunction

ca

(obsolete) because
Synonyms: pentru că, întrucât, fiindcă, deoarece
(followed by să) in order to

Romansch

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin quam or quod.

Conjunction

ca

(Sutsilvan) than

Scots

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kaː/, /kɑː/

Verb

ca (third-person singular simple present cas, present participle cain, simple past and past participle ca'd)

call
summon
drive something
go on, proceed
knock or push

Derived terms

ca canny

Contraction

ca

(some Scots dialects) can't
That ca be him!
That can't be him!

Southwestern Dinka

Noun

ca (plural caak)

milk

References

Dinka-English Dictionary‎^[5], 2005

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈka/ [ˈka]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -a
Syllabification: ca
Homophone: ka

Etymology 1

From Vulgar Latin qua, alternative form of Latin quia.

Conjunction

ca

(obsolete) because
Synonym: porque
- c. 1325, Cantar de mío Cid‎^[6]:
  Sospiró mio Cid, ca mucho avié grandes cuidados
  My Cid sighed, for very great grief had he

Etymology 2

From ¡quia!.

Interjection

¡ca!

(Spain) Denotes incredulity or negation; oh no!
Synonyms: ¡quia!, ¡qué va!

Etymology 3

Clipping of casa.

Noun

ca f (uncountable)

(colloquial) house

Swedish

Adverb

ca

circa; abbreviation of cirka; alternative form of c:a

Anagrams

Ac

Tarantino

Pronoun

ca (relative)

to whom
to which

Adjective

ca

what

Tày

Pronunciation

(Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [kaː˧˧]
(Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [kaː˦˥]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Tai *kaːᴬ (“crow”), from onomatopoeic origin. Cognate with Lao ກາ (kā), Northern Thai ᨠᩣ, Lü ᦂᦱ (k̇aa), Shan ၵႃ (kǎa), Tai Nüa ᥐᥣ (kaa), Tai Dam ꪀꪱ, Zhuang roegga, Tày ca.

Noun

(Classifier: tua) ca (𱍼)

common raven
Tua ca ơi.
The crow cries.

nả đăm bặng nả ca
one's face as black as a crow's face

Vằn ngoà tua ca pắt đảy sloong tua cáy ỉ.
Yesterday, the crow caught two little chickens.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “เพกา?”)

Noun

(Classifier: mạy) ca

Oroxylum indicum
co mạy ca ― foot of a midnight horror tree

phắc ca ― fruit from a midnight horror tree

Derived terms

mác ca

Etymology 3

Compare cà.

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Could be either ultimately from 個 but the tone doesn't really match, or less likely a reduced form of cáy (chicken), evidenced by "cáy cào" in Lương Bèn's dictionary being an alternative form of "ca cào".”

Classifier

ca

Precedes a different classifier to convey contempt towards the referrent
ca tua ma ― this goddamn dog

Prefix

ca

Meaningless, occasionally intensifying prefix in mostly animal names as well as other nouns and adjectives, some of which have variants with cà

Derived terms

References

Lương Bèn (2011), Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎^[7][8] (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
Dương Nhật Thanh; Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003), Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎^[9] (in Tày and Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học xã hội [Social Sciences Publishing House]
Léopold Michel Cadière (1910), Dictionnaire Tày-Annamite-Français [Tày-Vietnamese-French Dictionary]‎^[10] (in French), Hanoi: Impressions d'Extrême-Orient

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kaː˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [kaː˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [kaː˧˧]

Etymology 1

From French quart.

Noun

(classifier cái) ca

mug (cup)
mug (about 1/4 liter)

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 歌 (“song”).

Noun

(classifier bài) ca

(literary) song

Derived terms

Verb

ca

(colloquial in Southern Vietnam, somewhat literary in other dialects) to sing
Đăng kí ca ở đâu hả em?
Where can I sign up to sing, boy?
(colloquial, ironic) to praise
(colloquial) to scold

Synonyms

(to sing): hát
(to praise): ca ngợi, ca tụng, ca vịnh

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French cas.

Noun

ca

(medicine) case
Ca này nặng đấy!
This case is a serious one!

Đã có 5 ca tử vong.
There have been five fatal cases.

Synonyms

(case): trường hợp

Derived terms

ca mổ

Etymology 4

From French quart. Compare Thai กะ (gà, “shift”).

Noun

ca

shift (change of workers)
tan ca ― to finish one's shift

Derived terms

giao ca

Etymology 5

Borrowed from French ka.

Noun

ca

The name of the Latin-script letter K/k.

Etymology 6

Preposition

ca • (𰙔)

(archaic) at, in
(archaic) place

Welsh

Alternative forms

(first-person singular future): caf (literary)
(second-person singular imperative): cei, cymer (colloquial)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kaː/

Verb

ca

inflection of cael:
1. first-person singular future colloquial
2. second-person singular imperative literary

Mutation

Mutated forms of ca
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
ca	ga	ngha	cha

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Yao

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-kéa (“to dawn - zone P”).

Verb

-ca (infinitive kuca)

to become bright
1. to dawn
2. to clear up (of the sky)
to mature (fruit, crops)

Derived terms

-cesya (“to pernoctate, to stay up all night”)

References

Ciyawo - English Dictionary: Dikishonale ja Ŵakulijiganya

[1] Çabej, E. (1987), “ca”, in Studime etimologjike në fushë të shqipes (in Albanian), volumes III: C–D, Tirana, page 4

[dipi-2] 1.0 ^1.1 ca in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

[1]

[1]

Translingual

Etymology

Symbol

See also

English

Preposition

Anagrams

A-Pucikwar

Etymology

Noun

Verb

References

Albanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Derived terms

Related terms

References

Alutiiq

Etymology

Interjection

References

Asturian

Etymology 1

Conjunction

Etymology 2

Noun

Usage notes

Adjective

Adverb

Interjection

Further reading

Basay

Etymology

Numeral

Canela

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Catalan

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Usage notes

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Usage notes

Etymology 3

Particle

Usage notes

Derived terms

Central Nahuatl

Verb

Chibcha

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Classical Nahuatl

Verb

Usage notes

Particle

Dinka

Noun

Hyponyms

See also

References

Fala

Pronunciation

Adverb

References

Fijian

Adjective

Noun

French

Preposition

Further reading