cosa

See also: Cosa, cósa, and cosà

Aragonese

FWOTD – 8 January 2016

Etymology

From Latin causa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈko.sa/

Noun

cosa f (plural cosas)

1. thing (that which exists as a separate entity)
   • 2010, Academia de l’Aragonés, Propuesta ortografica de l'Academia de l'Aragonés, 2^nd edition, Edacar, page 67:

     Nombres propios d’animals, cosas y conceptos singularizaus: […]

     Proper names of animals, things and singularised concepts: […]

Pronoun

cosa

1. nothing (not any thing)
   • May-August 2014, Fuellas, Consello d’a Fabla Aragonesa, page 26:

     Respondioron: muito 0,00 % / prou 33,3 % / poco 66,7 % / cosa 0,00 %

     They answered: a lot 0.00% / enough 33.3% / a little 66.7% / nothing 0.00%

Asturian

Alternative forms

• cousa

Etymology

From Latin causa.

Noun

cosa f (plural coses)

1. thing

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin causa. Compare Occitan causa and chausa, French chose, Spanish cosa, Italian cosa. Doublet of causa, a borrowing from Latin.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.zə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.za/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

cosa f (plural coses)

1. thing
2. affair, matter

Derived terms

• alguna cosa
• coseta
• qualsevol cosa

Pronoun

cosa

1. (Alghero, Italianism) what (interrogative)

   Cosa voleu? ― What do you want?

Usage notes

The Italianism cosa? ('what?') is found within Algherese and is commonly used by speakers thereof, but is deemed by the IEC as something to be avoided.

See also

• qui cosa
• per cosa
• percosa

References

• “cosa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “cosa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “cosa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “cosa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• El Català de l'Alguer : un model d'àmbit restringit, Barcelona, 2003, →ISBN, pages 33

Galician

Verb

cosa

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of coser
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of coser

Interlingua

Noun

cosa (plural cosas)

1. thing

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔsˠə/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌsˠə/

Noun

cosa f pl

1. nominative/dative plural of cos

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
cosa	chosa	gcosa
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Istriot

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin or Late Latin coxa (“thigh”), from Latin coxa (“hip”).

Noun

cosa f

1. thigh

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin causa. Doublet of the borrowing causa. The pronoun is a clipping of che cosa.

Pronunciation

• (Central and Southern Italy) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.za/, (traditional) /ˈkɔ.sa/
  • Rhymes: -ɔza, (traditional) -ɔsa
• (Northern Italy) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.za/

  • Audio (Northern)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɔza
• (Northern Italy, dialects) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.sa/
  • Rhymes: -ɔsa
• Hyphenation: cò‧sa

Noun

cosa f (plural cose)

1. thing, matter

Pronoun

cosa

1. what?
2. what!

Derived terms

• che cosa
• Cosa Nostra
• qualcosa

 

Anagrams

• caos, caso, osca

Old French

Noun

cosa f (oblique plural cosas, nominative singular cosa, nominative plural cosas)

1. (very early Old French) Alternative form of chose

Usage notes

• Used in the Oaths of Strasbourg

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin causa. Cognates include Middle English cause, Old French chose, Old Galician-Portuguese cousa, Italian cosa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoza/

Noun

cosa

1. thing

Descendants

• Ladino: koza
• Spanish: cosa

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈko.zɐ/

• Homophones: coza, cousa
• Rhymes: -ozɐ
• Hyphenation: co‧sa

Verb

cosa

1. inflection of coser:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Sicilian

Etymology

From Latin causa. Compare Italian cosa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.sa/
• Hyphenation: cò‧sa

Noun

cosa f (plural cosi)

1. thing

Further reading

• Traina, Antonino (1868), “cosa”, in Nuovo vocabolario Siciliano-Italiano [New Sicilian-Italian vocabulary] (in Italian), Liber Liber, published 2020, pages 994–997

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkosa/ [ˈko.sa]

• Audio (Latin America)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -osa
• Syllabification: co‧sa

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish cosa, inherited from Latin causa. Doublet of the borrowing causa. Cognates include French chose, Italian cosa, Portuguese coisa.

Noun

cosa f (plural cosas)

1. thing (object, concept)
2. (informal) thing (living being or creature)

   cosas hermosas

   pretty [little] things

Alternative forms

• coso (dialectal, for masculine nouns)

Derived terms

• cosilla (diminutive)
• cosita (diminutive)

• alguna cosa
• arroz con cosas
• como si tal cosa
• cosa de
• cosa del otro jueves
• cosa en sí
• cosa juzgada
• cosa rara
• cosas del mundo
• cosas que van y vienen
• cosas veredes
• estado de cosas
• llamar las cosas por su nombre
• poca cosa
• poquita cosa
• qué cosa

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cosa

1. inflection of coser:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “cosa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014