cola

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cola"

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkəʊ.lə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊlə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊlə

Etymology 1

From a Niger-Congo language, compare Temne kola, Mandinka kola. The beverage "Coca-Cola" was what made the term widely known, and popularized the spelling with c instead of k.

Alternative forms

• (the plant or nut): kola

Noun

cola (countable and uncountable, plural colas)

1. The kola plant, genus Cola, famous for its nut, or one of these nuts.
2. A beverage or a drink made with kola nut flavoring, caramel and carbonated water.

Derived terms

• Americola
• champagne cola
• cola chicken
• colaholic
• noncola
• piscola

Descendants

• → Korean: 콜라 (kolla)
• → Mandarin: 可樂 / 可乐 (kělè)
  • → Chinese: 可樂 / 可乐 (kělè)
• → Vietnamese: cô-la
• → Japanese: コーラ
  • → Hakka: 可樂 / 可乐 (khó-là)
  • → Hokkien: 可樂 / 可乐 (khò͘-lah)

Translations

plant or nut — see kola

drink

• Arabic: كُولَا f (kūlā)

  Egyptian Arabic: كولا f (kola)

  North Levantine Arabic: كولا f (kōla)

  South Levantine Arabic: كولا f (kōla)

• Armenian: կոլա (hy) (kola)
• Belarusian: ко́ла f (kóla)
• Bulgarian: ко́ла (bg) f (kóla)
• Catalan: cola (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 可樂 / 可乐 (ho² lok⁶)

  Hakka: 可樂 / 可乐 (khó-là)

  Mandarin: 可樂 / 可乐 (zh) (kělè)

• Czech: kola (cs) f
• Danish: cola (da) c
• Dutch: cola (nl) m
• Esperanto: kolao
• Faroese: kola f
• Finnish: kolajuoma (fi)
• French: coca (fr) m
• Georgian: კოლა (ḳola)
• German: Cola (de) f or n
• Greek: κόλα (el) f (kóla)
• Hebrew: קוֹלָה (he) f (qola)
• Hindi: कोला (hi) m (kolā)
• Hungarian: kóla (hu)
• Japanese: コーラ (ja) (kōra)
• Korean: 콜라 (ko) (kolla)
• Macedonian: ко́ла (mk) f (kóla)
• Marathi: कोला m (kolā)
• Mongolian: кола (mn) (kola)
• Persian: کولا (fa) (kolâ)
• Polish: cola (pl) f, kola (pl) f
• Portuguese: cola (pt) f
• Romanian: cola (ro) f
• Russian: ко́ла (ru) f (kóla)
• Scottish Gaelic: còc m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кола f

  Latin: kola (sh) f

• Slovak: kola f
• Spanish: cola (es) f
• Swedish: cola (sv) c, kola (sv) c
• Thai: โคล่า (th) (koo-lâa)
• Turkish: kola (tr)
• Ukrainian: ко́ла (uk) f (kóla)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} coca (fr) m
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kola (tr)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} Côcácôla, ^{(please verify)} côla, ^{(please verify)} cô-la; ^{(please verify)} quả côla, ^{(please verify)} quả cô-la

See also

• Cola on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Cola (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Kola nut on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

See colon.

Noun

cola

1. (dated) plural of colon
   • 2008, Alexandre Allauzen, Review of “Mathematical Linguistics” by Andras Kornai‎^[1]:

     In this part, the author presents a prosodic hierarchy describing syllables, moras, feet, cola and a typology for words and stress.

Etymology 3

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish cola (“tail”), from Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda, or from its diminutive caudula. Doublet of queue and coda.

Noun

cola (plural colas)

1. A cluster of buds on a cannabis plant.

Anagrams

• ALCO, Acol, Calo, Caló, Coal., LCAO, LOAC, LOCA, alco, alco-, coal, loca

Adai

Noun

cola

1. yes.

Asturian

Etymology

From a contraction of the preposition con (“with”) + feminine singular article la (“the”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkola/ [ˈko.la]
• Rhymes: -ola
• Syllabification: co‧la

Contraction

cola f (masculine col, neuter colo, masculine plural colos, feminine plural coles)

1. with the

Further reading

• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “cola”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “cola”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”). Compare French colle, Portuguese and Spanish cola, Italian colla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkɔ.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈko.la]

Noun

cola f (plural coles)

1. glue

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English cola, in turn from an undetermined Niger-Congo language, compare Temne kola, Mandinka kola.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkɔ.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈko.la]

Noun

cola f (plural coles)

1. cola

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkɔ.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkɔ.la]

Verb

cola

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

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English cola, from the fizzy drink Coca-Cola; the second part was named after the kola nuts that are used as an ingredient.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoː.laː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: co‧la
• Rhymes: -oːlaː

Noun

cola m (plural cola's, diminutive colaatje n)

1. cola (drink)
2. superseded spelling of kola

Derived terms

• bacardi cola, baco
• rum cola

Fijian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈðola/

Verb

cola

1. carry (on the shoulders)

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkolɑ/, [ˈko̞lɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -olɑ
• Syllabification^(key): co‧la
• Hyphenation^(key): co‧la

Noun

cola

1. alternative form of kola (“cola”)

Declension

Inflection of cola (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)
nominative		cola	colat
genitive		colan	colien
partitive		colaa	colia
illative		colaan	coliin
		singular	plural
nominative		cola	colat
accusative	nom.	cola	colat
	gen.	colan
genitive		colan	colien colain rare
partitive		colaa	colia
inessive		colassa	colissa
elative		colasta	colista
illative		colaan	coliin
adessive		colalla	colilla
ablative		colalta	colilta
allative		colalle	colille
essive		colana	colina
translative		colaksi	coliksi
abessive		colatta	colitta
instructive		—	colin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of cola (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative colani colani accusative nom. colani colani gen. colani genitive colani colieni colaini rare partitive colaani coliani inessive colassani colissani elative colastani colistani illative colaani coliini adessive colallani colillani ablative colaltani coliltani allative colalleni colilleni essive colanani colinani translative colakseni colikseni abessive colattani colittani instructive — — comitative — colineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative colasi colasi accusative nom. colasi colasi gen. colasi genitive colasi coliesi colaisi rare partitive colaasi coliasi inessive colassasi colissasi elative colastasi colistasi illative colaasi coliisi adessive colallasi colillasi ablative colaltasi coliltasi allative colallesi colillesi essive colanasi colinasi translative colaksesi coliksesi abessive colattasi colittasi instructive — — comitative — colinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative colamme colamme accusative nom. colamme colamme gen. colamme genitive colamme coliemme colaimme rare partitive colaamme coliamme inessive colassamme colissamme elative colastamme colistamme illative colaamme coliimme adessive colallamme colillamme ablative colaltamme coliltamme allative colallemme colillemme essive colanamme colinamme translative colaksemme coliksemme abessive colattamme colittamme instructive — — comitative — colinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative colanne colanne accusative nom. colanne colanne gen. colanne genitive colanne colienne colainne rare partitive colaanne colianne inessive colassanne colissanne elative colastanne colistanne illative colaanne coliinne adessive colallanne colillanne ablative colaltanne coliltanne allative colallenne colillenne essive colananne colinanne translative colaksenne coliksenne abessive colattanne colittanne instructive — — comitative — colinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative colansa colansa accusative nom. colansa colansa gen. colansa genitive colansa coliensa colainsa rare partitive colaansa coliaan coliansa inessive colassaan colassansa colissaan colissansa elative colastaan colastansa colistaan colistansa illative colaansa coliinsa adessive colallaan colallansa colillaan colillansa ablative colaltaan colaltansa coliltaan coliltansa allative colalleen colallensa colilleen colillensa essive colanaan colanansa colinaan colinansa translative colakseen colaksensa colikseen coliksensa abessive colattaan colattansa colittaan colittansa instructive — — comitative — colineen colinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• colajuoma

Further reading

• “cola”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

cola m (plural colas)

1. cola (drink)

Further reading

• “cola”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Etymology 1

From Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”). Compare Spanish cola, French colle, Italian colla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔla̝/

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. glue
   • 1433, A. López Ferreiro, editor, Fueros municipales de Santiago y de su tierra, Madrid: Ediciones Castilla, page 493:

     yten hordenamos e por ben temos que ningún, nen alguos oficiaas que labrar contas ou fezer labrar ou vender de azabache, que non seja ousado de soldar, nen juntar peça nenhua, conben a saver, ymagen de santiago, nen crucifixo, nen conchas, nen contas, nen sortellas, nen outra pesa nenhua que seja quebrada con betume, nen con cola, nen con solda, nen quon outra cousa

     item, we order and pleases us that no one, neither some officials who carve beans or order to carve or sell jet, should dare to solder not joint any piece, that is: neither image of Saint James, nor crucifix, nor shells, nor beans, nor rings, nor any other broken thing, with bitumen, nor glue, nor solder, nor with any other thing

2. adhesive

Etymology 2

From Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda. Doublet of cúa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔla̝/

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. tail

   Synonym: rabo

   • c. 1300, R. Martínez López, editor, General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV, Oviedo: Archivum, page 134:

     desla çintura arriba cõmo fegura de omẽ, et dende ajuso cõmo de peyxe cõ escamas et sua cola

     from the waist upwards as the figure of a man, and from them down as that of a fish, with scales and its tail

2. train (elongated back portion of a dress)
   • c. 1885, Jenaro Mariñas, A Moda:

     Pois señor, eu paso pola calle e vou de présa: tripo unha cola dunha señorita; eu caio, ela cai; o pai que vai con ela, dáme de paus co bastón; un meu compañeiro, que tampouco pode ver esas modas, sai na miña defensa; eu levántome e axúdolle; a nena dá gritos; os serenos acoden; nós non lle facemos caso; a xente vén correndo a ve-lo que pasa, repítese entre ela o que a min xa me pasou; caien uns enriba doutros, e hai confusión, e aies, e berros, e paresce que toda aquela calle está chea de demos que andan arrincando as lousas pra irse pró inferno. Resultado: un escadrón de caballería sai a despexar a calle, e nos vamos direitos á prevención.

     "Well, then I'm walking down the street in a hurry: I trip on a young lady's train; I fall, she falls; her father, which is by her side, strikes me some blows with his canes; a companion of mine, who also can't stand these fashions, comes to defend me; I stand up and help him; the girl shouts; the guards come; we don't acknowledge them; people come at the run to see what's going on, and it happens to them what has happened to me; they fall ones on top of the others, and there is confusion and laments and shouts, and it seems that the street is full with demons who are pulling out the flagstones to get to hell. Result: a cavalry squadron comes to clear the street, and we go direct to jail."

3. queue

   Synonym: fila

Etymology 3

Ultimately from a Niger-Congo language, or from Sudanese.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔla̝/

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. (botany) kola

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “cola”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “cola”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cola”, 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), “cola”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cola”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈko.la/
• Rhymes: -ola
• Hyphenation: có‧la

Verb

cola

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

Anagrams

• calo, calo-, calò, laco, loca

Latin

Verb

cōlā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of cōlō

References

• "cola", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Old English

Noun

cola

1. genitive plural of col

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀘𑁄𑀮 (Brahmi script)
• चोल (Devanagari script)
• চোল (Bengali script)
• චොල (Sinhalese script)
• စောလ or ၸေႃလ (Burmese script)
• โจล or โจละ (Thai script)
• ᨧᩮᩣᩃ (Tai Tham script)
• ໂຈລ or ໂຈລະ (Lao script)
• ចោល (Khmer script)
• 𑄌𑄮𑄣 (Chakma script)

Noun

cola m

1. cloth

Declension

Declension table of "cola" (masculine)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	colo	colā
Accusative (second)	colaṃ	cole
Instrumental (third)	colena	colehi or colebhi
Dative (fourth)	colassa or colāya or colatthaṃ	colānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	colasmā or colamhā or colā	colehi or colebhi
Genitive (sixth)	colassa	colānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	colasmiṃ or colamhi or cole	colesu
Vocative (calling)	cola	colā

References

• Pali Text Society (1921–1925), “cola”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead
• Maung Tin (1920), The Student's Pali-English Dictionary, Rangoon: British Burma Press.

Polish

Alternative forms

• kola

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English cola, from a Niger-Congo language. Genericized trademark.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.la/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔla
• Syllabification: co‧la
• Homophone: kola

Noun

cola f

1. cola (any kind of soft drink made with kola nut flavoring, caramel, and carbonated water)
2. Coca-Cola drink

   Synonym: coca-cola

Declension

Declension of cola

	singular	plural
nominative	cola	cole
genitive	coli	col/coli
dative	coli	colom
accusative	colę	cole
instrumental	colą	colami
locative	coli	colach
vocative	colo	cole

Further reading

• “cola”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.lɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.lɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.la/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.lɐ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlɐ
• Hyphenation: co‧la

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”). Compare Spanish cola, French colle, Italian colla.

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. glue, paste (sticky adhesive substance)
2. adhesive

Etymology 2

From Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda. Doublet of cauda, a borrowing.

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. (dated or dialectal) tail

   Synonyms: cauda, (informal) rabo

2. track, trail (of someone or something to be followed)

   Synonym: rasto

   A polícia está na cola dele. ― The police is on his tail.

3. (Brazil, slang) cheat sheet, a copy of content used to help to complete a school or university test, often illegally

   Synonym: (Portugal) cábula

Etymology 3

From a Niger-Congo language, or from Sudanese.

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. (botany) kola (tree or fruit):

Related terms

• coleira

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cola

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

Further reading

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

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French cola.

Noun

cola m (plural cola)

1. cola (drink)

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	cola	colaul	cola	colai
genitive-dative	cola	colaului	cola	colalor
vocative	colaule		colalor

Spanish

Cola de un león (a lion's tail).

Cola de avión (aircraft tail).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkola/ [ˈko.la]
• Rhymes: -ola
• Syllabification: co‧la

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda, or from its diminutive caudula. Cognate to French queue and Italian coda.

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. (anatomy) tail

   Synonym: rabo

2. line (US), queue (UK)

   Synonym: fila

3. (aviation) empennage, aircraft tail
4. (clothing) train (long back section of a gown)
5. (astronomy) coma (a comet's tail)

   Synonym: coma

6. (computing, informatics) queue
7. (slightly vulgar) ass, the buttocks
8. (slightly vulgar) the penis
9. (Chile, LGBTQ, sometimes pejorative) gayboy, homo

   Synonym: colihue

Derived terms

• a la cola
• bata de cola
• cola de alacrán
• cola de caballo
• cola de gallo
• cola de golondrina
• cola de lagarto
• cola de león
• cola de milano
• cola de paja
• cola de pato
• cola de perro
• cola de pescado
• cola de rata
• cola de ratón
• cola de zorra
• colero
• coleta
• coliblanco
• colilla
• colirrojo
• colista
• con la cola entre las patas
• furgón de cola
• hacer cola
• pescadilla que se muerde la cola
• piano de cola
• piano de media cola
• vagón de cola

Related terms

• caudal

Etymology 2

Inherited from Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla). Cognate to Portuguese cola, Italian colla, French colle.

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. (adhesive) glue (natural)

   Synonyms: pegamento (synthetic), engrudo

Usage notes

• This kind of glue cola refers to the natural paste kind made from horse hooves or other animal body parts only, not the synthetic kind.

Derived terms

• cola de boca
• cola de retal
• cola fría
• no pegar ni con cola

Etymology 3

From a Niger-Congo language.

Noun

cola f (plural colas)

1. (drink) ellipsis of bebida de cola (“cola”)
2. (nut) kola
3. (tree) kola tree

Derived terms

drink

• bebida de cola

nut

• nuez de cola
• sabor cola

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cola

1. inflection of colar (“to canonically confer (an ecclesiastical benefit)”):
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “cola”, 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
• “cola”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

Anagrams

• calo
• caló
• laco
• loca
• ocal

Vietnamese

Noun

cola

1. cola (drink)

Xhosa

Etymology

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

Verb

-cola^?

1. (transitive) to grind

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.