toalla

Asturian

Noun

toalla f (plural toalles)

1. Alternative form of toballa

---

Galician

Etymology

Attested since the 13th century. Either from Old French toaille (“towel”) or directly from Gothic, from Proto-Germanic *þwahilō (“towel”), from *þwahaną (“to wash”).

Cognate with Portuguese toalha, Asturian toballa, Spanish tobaja, French touaille, English towel, among others.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /toˈaʎa̝/

Noun

toalla m (plural toallas)

1. towel
   • 1438, X. Ferro Couselo (ed.), A vida e a fala dos devanceiros. Vigo: Galaxia, page 172:

     sete mantas brancas de cama e tres mesas de mantées e dous de lata e outros alesmaniscos e un par de toallas

     seven white blankets for the bed, three tables of tablecloth (?), two [made] of boards and another two German ones, and a pair of towels

References

• Template:R:DDGM
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “toal”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Template:R:DDLG
• Template:R:TILG
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “toalla”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

---

Spanish

Toalla de mano (hand towel).

Etymology

A borrowing from another Romance language which substituted the older tobaja, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *þwahilō; cf. Frankish *þwahila. Compared to Galician toalla and Portuguese toalha, also French touaille, Italian tovaglia, English towel.

Pronunciation

•  

• IPA^(key): /toˈaʝa/ [t̪oˈa.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): (most of Spain and Latin America) /toˈaʝa/ [t̪oˈa.ʝa]
• IPA^(key): (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains) /toˈaʎa/ [t̪oˈa.ʎa]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /toˈaʃa/ [t̪oˈa.ʃa]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /toˈaʒa/ [t̪oˈa.ʒa]

• Rhymes: -aɟ͡ʝa

Noun

toalla f (plural toallas)

1. towel

Derived terms

• tirar la toalla
• toallero m
• toallita f