taba

See also: -taba

Languages (23)

English

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Asturian • Catalan • Central Bikol • Ibatan • Indonesian • Japanese • Latin • Limos Kalinga • Lindu • Lingala • Ludian • Mansaka • Mauritian Creole • Northern Paiute • Old Tupi • Scottish Gaelic • Seychellois Creole • Spanish • Tagalog • Veps • Volapük • Yoruba

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Page categories

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Mandingo tababor.

English taba

Borrowed from Mandingo taba.

Noun

taba (countable and uncountable, plural tabas)

1. A lump of dried tobacco, occasionally mixed with other recreational drugs, placed in the vagina for its stimulating effects.
   • 2024 December 30, ““Taba” addiction, dangers it poses among Gambian women, girls”, in The Voice‎^[2], archived from the original on 8 August 2025:

     “Taba,” the Mandinka term for tobacco, refers to a locally made tobacco substance that was commonly used by older generations in The Gambia well before independence. This practice, which was often adopted by individuals seeking energy boosts or stress relief, has taken a troubling turn in recent years. Today, a mixture of various substances under the same name is being used predominantly by women and girls, and shockingly, it is applied through their genitals for a range of purposes.

   • 2025 March 19, Kaddy Jawo, “‘I nearly died’: Taba, the tobacco drug Gambian women share in secret”, in Al Jazeera‎^[3], archived from the original on 22 March 2025:

     Sellers like Saf take regular taba and mix it with potent chemicals to enhance its intoxicating effect. Many women then use it intravaginally, believing it enhances sexual pleasure.

   • 2025 December 26, “Gambian women put tobacco ‘taba’ in vaginas”, in edge.ug‎^[4], archived from the original on 1 January 2026:

     Health authorities in The Gambia are raising alarm over a growing practice among women involving the intravaginal use of a local powdered tobacco called “taba” or “tabaa.”

Asturian

Verb

taba

1. first/third-person singular imperfect indicative of tar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic كَعْب (kaʕb).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈta.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈta.bə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈta.ba]

Noun

taba f (plural tabes)

1. (anatomy) anklebone
2. (often plural) knucklebones, jacks

   Synonyms: ossets, joc de botxí

3. (colloquial) chitchat

Further reading

• “taba”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Central Bikol

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tabəq. Compare Tagalog taba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taˈba/ [taˈba]
• IPA^(key): /taˈbaʔ/ [taˈbaʔ]
• Hyphenation: ta‧ba

Noun

tabá or tabâ (Basahan spelling ᜆᜊ)

1. fat, lard
2. fatness (of a person, animal)

   Antonym: niwang

3. grease (for food, meat)

   Synonym: suya

4. richness; fertility (for soil)

   Synonym: kabalunbonan

Derived terms

• katabahan
• magtaba
• mataba
• pagkataba
• pataba

See also

• hibog
• himpis
• nipis

Ibatan

Noun

taba

1. fat; lard

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈtaba/ [ˈt̪a.ba]
• Rhymes: -aba
• Syllabification: ta‧ba

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Musi [Term?] (Lematang).

Verb

taba (active menaba, reflexive passive tertaba, ordinary passive ditaba, imperative taba, emphatic-jussive tabalah)

1. to tap for rubber [since 2024]

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Sobei [Term?].

Noun

taba (plural taba-taba)

1. arrows made from bamboo, used to shoot fish on rocky beaches [since 2025]

Further reading

• “taba”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Japanese

Romanization

taba

1. Rōmaji transcription of たば

Latin

Noun

tāba

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of tābum

Limos Kalinga

Noun

tabá

1. fat

Lindu

Noun

taba

1. alum
2. lard; animal fat

Lingala

Etymology

See Lingala ntaba.

Noun

taba

1. goat

Ludian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *tapa.

Noun

taba

1. custom
2. character
3. nature (of a person &c.)

Mansaka

Noun

taba

1. fat

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French tabac.

Noun

taba

1. tobacco

References

• Baker, Philip; Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. (1987), Diksiyoner kreol morisyeṅ [Mauritian Creole Dictionary] (in French and English), Paris: L'Harmattan, →ISBN

Northern Paiute

Etymology

Compare Cahuilla támit

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tapa/

Noun

taba

1. sun

Old Tupi

taba (etymology 1 sense 1)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaβa/
• Rhymes: -aβa
• Hyphenation: ta‧ba

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *taβ, from Proto-Tupian *tˀap. Cognate with Paraguayan Guarani táva.

Noun

taba (possessable)

2. village
   • c. 1583, Joseph of Anchieta, “Na feſta de .ſ. L^ço [At the Saint Lawrence Festival]” (chapter XLIV), in [livrinho de variaſ poeziaſ] [Booklet of various poems], Niterói, page 60, lines 26–31; republished as Maria de Lourdes de Paula Martins, compiler, Poesias, São Paulo, 1956, page 111:

     Xe anho / co taba pupe aico / çerecoaramo uitecobo, / xereco rupi imoingobo, / que çuj aço mamo / amo taba rapecobo.

     [Xe anhõ / kó taba pupé aîkó / serekoaramo ûitekóbo, / xe rekó rupi i moingóbo, / kûé suí asó mamõ / amõ taba rapekóbo.]

     Just me lived in this village, staying as its guardian, making it follow my law. From there, I went far away, visiting other villages.

   • c. 1585, Joseph of Anchieta, “[Na Aldeia de Guaraparim] [In the Village of Guaraparim]” (chapter LXIV), in [livrinho de variaſ poeziaſ] [Booklet of various poems], Guarapari, page 148, column 1, lines 1–5; republished as Maria de Lourdes de Paula Martins, compiler, Poesias, São Paulo, 1956, page 280:

     Acai, aceca yepe / mitaçaba amo guitecobo / eri, xemocẽ meme / tabaçui Abare / quepe catu xemondobo.

     [Akaî, aseká íepé / mytasaba amõ gûitekóbo / erĩ, xe mosẽ memẽ / taba suí abaré / kuepekatu xe mondóbo.]

     Oh, although I'm looking for some place to stay, argh! The priest always expels me from the village, sending me very far away.

3. (Late Tupi) city, town

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:taba

   • 1618, Antônio de Araújo, “5. Dedic S. Maria ad Niues”, in Cateciſmo na Lingoa Braſilica [Catechism in the Brazilian Language], Catalogo dos dias Santos de guarda, & de jejum (overall work in Old Tupi, Portuguese, and Latin), Lisbon: Pedro Crasbeeck, pages 6v–7:

     Tàba Roma yàpe amo caraìba moçacàra rimbaè, cunhâ marãgatù membireima cemirecòramo […]

     [Taba Roma îápe amõ karaiba mosakara rimba'e, kunhãmarangatumembyre'yma semirekóramo […] ]

     In the city called “Rome”, a noble Chirstian had a kind wife with no children.

4. (loosely) place
   • 16th century, Joseph of Anchieta, “Matrimônio”, in [Doutrina Cristã]; republished as Armando Cardoso, compiler, Doutrina Cristã: Catecismo brasílico, volume I, São Paulo: Loyola, 1992, →ISBN, page 226, line 6:

     M Umãmepe imomendári?
     D Paraíso Terreal táporángatú pupé.

     [M[estre:] Umãmepe i momendari?
     D[iscípulo:] Paraíso Terreal taporãngatu pupé.]

     Master:Where did he wed them?
     Disciple: At the Terrestrial Paradise, a very beautiful place.

Derived terms

• amỹîndaba
• tabapîasaba
• tabaîara
• tabe'yma
• tabebira
• tabeté
• tabusu
• tapera
• tapiîara

Descendants

• Nheengatu: tawa (“city”)
• → Brazilian Portuguese: taba (“Tupian village”)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

taba

1. absolute of aba

Further reading

• Navarro, Eduardo de Almeida (2013), “taba”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil ] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 455, column 2

Scottish Gaelic

Noun

taba m (genitive singular taba, plural tabaichean)

1. tab (computing - in TDI)

Seychellois Creole

Etymology

From French tabac.

Noun

taba

1. tobacco

References

• D'Offay, Danielle; Lionnet, Guy (1982), Diksyonner kreol-franse [Creole-French Dictionary] (in French), Hamburg: Buske, →ISBN

Spanish

Etymology

From Arabic كَعْب (kaʕb).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaba/ [ˈt̪a.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -aba
• Syllabification: ta‧ba

Noun

taba f (plural tabas)

1. (anatomy) anklebone

   Synonym: astrágalo

   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 308:

     Para combatir el dolor reumático, es conveniente llevar en el bolsillo del lado enfermo, una taba de cordero.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• “taba”, 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
• “taba”, 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
• DiPerú | Diccionario de peruanismos en línea (apl.org.pe)

Tagalog

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tabəq. Compare Central Bikol taba.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /taˈbaʔ/ [t̪ɐˈbaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: ta‧ba

Noun

tabâ (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜊ)

1. fat (specialized animal tissue)
2. fatness (of a person, animal, etc.)

   Synonym: katabaan

3. lard (fat from pig abdomen)
4. (figurative) fertility (of soil)
5. (colloquial) fat person; fatso

   Synonyms: tabatsoy, tabatsing, tabatsingtsing

Derived terms

• antaba
• katabaan
• magpataba
• makataba ng puso
• mataba
• mataba ang utak
• matabang isda
• napakataba
• pagtaba
• pampataba
• pampatabang-puso
• pataba
• patabaan
• patabain
• patabaing baboy
• taba ng talangka
• tabain
• tabang-baboy
• tabang-hangin
• tabang-preso
• tabatsing
• tabatsingtsing
• tabatsoy
• tumaba
• walang-taba

Further reading

• “taba”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Anagrams

• abat, baat, bata

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *tapa, from Baltic.

Noun

taba

1. character, temperament
2. disposition
3. temper
4. custom, habit

Inflection

Inflection of taba (inflection type 5/sana)
nominative sing.	taba
genitive sing.	taban
partitive sing.	tabad
partitive plur.	taboid
	singular	plural
nominative	taba	tabad
accusative	taban	tabad
genitive	taban	taboiden
partitive	tabad	taboid
essive-instructive	taban	taboin
translative	tabaks	taboikš
inessive	tabas	taboiš
elative	tabaspäi	taboišpäi
illative	tabaha	taboihe
adessive	tabal	taboil
ablative	tabalpäi	taboilpäi
allative	tabale	taboile
abessive	tabata	taboita
comitative	tabanke	taboidenke
prolative	tabadme	taboidme
approximative I	tabanno	taboidenno
approximative II	tabannoks	taboidennoks
egressive	tabannopäi	taboidennopäi
terminative I	tabahasai	taboihesai
terminative II	tabalesai	taboilesai
terminative III	tabassai	—
additive I	tabahapäi	taboihepäi
additive II	tabalepäi	taboilepäi

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “нрав, повадка, темперамент, характер”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[5], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Volapük

Noun

taba

1. genitive singular of tab

Yoruba

Etymology

Borrowed from Hausa tāba, ultimately from Arabic طُبَّاق (ṭubbāq), see Spanish tabaco, Portuguese tabaco.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tá.bà/

Noun

tábà

1. tobacco, tobacco plant

   Synonym: tánà