caballa

Latin

Etymology

From caballus (“riding horse, packhorse”) +‎ -a (feminine noun suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kaˈbal.la]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [kaˈbal.la]

Noun

caballa f (genitive caballae, masculine caballus); first declension

1. mare
   • Latin Anthology I..p628

Inflection

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	caballa	caballae
genitive	caballae	caballārum
dative	caballae	caballīs
accusative	caballam	caballās
ablative	caballā	caballīs
vocative	caballa	caballae

Related terms

• caballiō (diminutive)

Descendants

• Italian: cavalla
• Occitan: cavala
• Piedmontese: cavala
• Portuguese: cavala (“mackerel”)
• Spanish: caballa (“mackerel”)

References

• “caballa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin caballa, the feminine form of caballus (“horse”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kaˈbaʝa/ [kaˈβ̞a.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): /kaˈbaʝa/ [kaˈβ̞a.ʝa] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /kaˈbaʎa/ [kaˈβ̞a.ʎa] (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /kaˈbaʃa/ [kaˈβ̞a.ʃa] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /kaˈbaʒa/ [kaˈβ̞a.ʒa] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -aʝa

• Rhymes: -aʝa (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -aʎa (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aʃa (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -aʒa (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Syllabification: ca‧ba‧lla

Noun

caballa f (plural caballas)

1. mackerel

Usage notes

• Although caballa is etymologically the feminine form of caballo, its meaning is not related to the female horse, which is called yegua (from Latin equa).

Descendants

• → Moroccan Arabic: كبايلا (kabāyla)

Further reading

• “caballa”, 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