coa

See also: côa, COA, CoA, cóa, co-a, and co'a

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Cocos Islands Malay.

Symbol

coa

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Cocos Islands Malay.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Cocos Islands Malay terms

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish coa.

Noun

coa (plural coas)

1. A primitive hoe, a sharp wooden rod formerly used by Native Americans to till the soil.

Anagrams

• AOC, CAO, Cao, OAC, oca

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈku.ə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈko.ə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈko.a]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

coa f (plural coes)

1. alternative form of cua

Galician

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkäː/
• Hyphenation: coa

Contraction

coa f (masculine co, masculine plural cos, feminine plural coas)

1. with the

   Non fales coa boca chea. ― Don't speak with your mouth full.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɐ/

Verb

coa

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

References

• “con”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “coa”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “coa”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin cubō (“to lie down”), from Proto-Italic *kubāō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-. Compare Italian covo.

Noun

coa f (plural coes)

1. (Gherdëina, Badiot, Fascian) nest

   La rondules à fat coa. ― The swallows have built a nest.

2. (figurative) home

   Chësta ie mi pitla coa. ― This is my little home.

Derived terms

• coa da bespies (“hornet's nest”)
• coa de la surices (“rat hole”)
• coa de viperes (“snake pit”)
• fé coa (“to nest”)

Latin

Etymology

After a story perhaps pertaining to Clodia Metelli cited in Quintillian, perhaps as a distortion of a form of coeō, or after the luxurious silk from Cos, deriving from the cocoon of the Coan moth, or both.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈko.a]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkɔː.a]

Noun

coa f (genitive coae); first declension

1. lustful woman, prostitute
   • 95 CE, Quintillian, Institutio Oratoria 8.6.52:

     ...in triclinio coam, in cubiculo nolam....

     ...Coan in the dining-room, noan in the bedroom...

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	coa	coae
genitive	coae	coārum
dative	coae	coīs
accusative	coam	coās
ablative	coā	coīs
vocative	coa	coae

References

• "coa", 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)

Lombard

Etymology

Akin to Italian coda, from Latin cauda.

Noun

coa f

1. tail

Occitan

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin cōda, variant of Latin cauda. Cognate with Catalan cua and French queue.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

coa f (plural coas)

1. tail

Portuguese

Etymology 1

From ecthlipsis of com. Cognate with Sicilian câ.

Alternative forms

• co'a (pre-standardization spelling, now proscribed)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kwa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kwɐ/

• Hyphenation: co‧a

Contraction

coa f sg

1. (chiefly poetic) contraction of com (“with”) +‎ a f sg (definite article): feminine singular of co

   Synonym: (colloquial) ca

Usage notes

Although superseded in the first spelling reforms of Portuguese, the spellings c'o, c'os, co'a, co'as are often still used in poetic works in order to make the contraction transparent.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin cōda, variant of cauda. Doublet of cauda.

Alternative forms

• côa (pre-1990 spelling)

Pronunciation

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko(w).ɐ/

• Rhymes: -oɐ
• Homophone: Coa
• Hyphenation: co‧a

Noun

coa f (plural coas)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Etymology 3

Deverbal from coar.

Alternative forms

• côa (pre-1990 spelling)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈko(w).ɐ/ [ˈko(ʊ̯).ɐ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko(w).ɐ/

• Rhymes: -oɐ, (Brazil) -owɐ
• Homophone: Coa
• Hyphenation: co‧a

Noun

coa f (plural coas)

1. straining; filtering

   Synonym: coação

2. strained liquid

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• côa (pre-1990 spelling)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈko(w).ɐ/ [ˈko(ʊ̯).ɐ]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈko(w).ɐ/

• Rhymes: -oɐ, (Brazil) -owɐ
• Homophone: Coa
• Hyphenation: co‧a

Verb

coa

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

Further reading

• “coa”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “coa”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “coa”, in Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2001–2026
• “coa”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “coa”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *eccum hāc. Related to Portuguese cá, Spanish acá, French çà.

Adverb

coa

1. here

   Synonyms: aici, încoace

Usage notes

• Often used in the phrase "vino-ncoa".

Sardinian

Alternative forms

• coda (Nuorese)

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin cōda, from Latin cauda, from Proto-Italic *kaudā, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂udeh₂.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoa/

Noun

coa f (plural coas)

1. (anatomy) tail
2. tail (tail-end of an object)
3. lap (upper legs of a sitting person)

   Sa mama si ponet in coa su fizu, ei su fizu si ponet coa de sa mama. ― The mother takes her son on her lap, and her son sits on his mother's lap.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoa/ [ˈko.a]
• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: co‧a

Etymology 1

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

coa f (plural coas)

1. primitive hoe, a sharp wooden rod formerly used by Native Americans to till the soil
2. (Chile, prison slang) low-class or criminal jargon

Derived terms

• coa de jima

Etymology 2

From C.O.A., Acronym of Cooperativa Ómnibus de Autobuses, a Melillan bus company.

Noun

coa f (plural coas)

1. (Melilla) bus, specifically a Melillan bus
   • 2025 January 7, “Los pensionistas melillenses utilizaron en 2025 el bono gratuito de la COA en más de 157.000 viajes, lo que revela el éxito de la nueva política de tarifas puesta en marcha por la Consejería de Medio Ambiente.”, in Facebook‎^[2] (Comment):

     Deberían poner una parada en la puerta/esquina de las oficinas de la coa. Los que vamos a renovar mensualmente las tarjetas y queremos ir al centro no tenemos opción de coger la coa allí y tenemos que ir a la parada que está en la frontera o en minas de Rif.

     They should put a bus stop right at the door/corner of the COA offices. Those of us who renew our cards monthly and want to go downtown don't have the option of catching the COA bus there and have to go to the stop at the border or in Minas de Rif.

Further reading

• “coa”, 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