bola

Probably from Spanish bola.

• Rhymes: -əʊlə

bola (plural bolas)

1. A throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of a cord.

• rola bola

• Albo, albo, albo-, Boal

Borrowed from Spanish bola.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbola/ [ˈbo.l̪a]
• Hyphenation: bo‧la

bóla (Basahan spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. ball (object)
2. flattery; compliment

   Synonym: bolada

bola (Lontara spelling ᨅᨚᨒ)

1. house

First attested in 1502. From Latin bulla, probably through the intermediate of Occitan bola. Doublet of butlla and the archaic or dialectal bolla.

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

bola f (plural boles)

1. ball
2. (baseball) ball (pitch which falls outside the strike zone)

   Synonym: bola dolenta

3. lie, untruth

• bola dolenta
• bola de neu
• bola-de-neu
• bola del món
• embolar

• “bola”, 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
• “bola”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “bola” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “bola” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Spanish bola.

bola

1. ball, sphere

From Old Norse bola, from Proto-Germanic *bulōną.

bola (third person singular past indicative bolaði, third person plural past indicative bolaðu, supine bolað)

1. scowl, glower

• "bola" at Sprotin.fo

From Proto-Oceanic *polaq, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bəlaq.

bola

1. to split with axe or heavy knife

From Latin bulla. Doublet of bóla and of bula.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbola/ [ˈbo.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ola
• Hyphenation: bo‧la

bola f (plural bolas)

1. piece of bread usually round, large and low
2. pie
3. (archaic) bulla (round metallic seal)
   • 1342, M. Romaní Martínez (ed.), La colección diplomática de Santa María de Oseira (1025-1310). Santiago: Tórculo Edicións, page 177:

     O qual privilegio era bolado de [...] bola de chunbo et de fios de sirgo do qual o tenor era tal en latin feyto, et por quanto en latin non entendian [todo homes pidio al] dito sennor que llo traladasse en romanço

     The aforementioned charter was sealed with [...] seal of lead and threads of silk, and its content was written in Latin, and since Latin wasn't understood by everyone, the aforementioned lord asked for the document to be translated into Romance

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “bola”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “bola”, 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), “bola”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “bola”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Borrowed from Spanish bola.

bóla

1. ball

bola

1. indefinite accusative singular of boli
2. indefinite dative singular of boli
3. indefinite genitive singular of boli
4. indefinite accusative plural of boli
5. indefinite genitive plural of boli

bola

1. indefinite genitive plural of bolur

From Malay bola, from Portuguese bola, from Old Occitan bola, from Latin bulla. Doublet of bolu.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbola/ [ˈbo.la]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ola
• Syllabification: bo‧la

bola (plural bola-bola)

1. ball, a solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass
2. (mathematics) sphere: a regular three-dimensional object in which every cross-section is a circle; the figure described by the revolution of a circle about its diameter

• “bola” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

bola

1. to rot

bola

1. lung

bola class 1 (plural babola class 2)

1. firstborn

Borrowed from Portuguese bola, from Old Occitan bola, from Latin bulla.

• (Baku, Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): /ˈbola/ [ˈbo.la]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ola, -la, -a
• Hyphenation: bo‧la

bola (Jawi spelling بول, plural bola-bola)

1. ball

   bola bola sepak ― football ball

• “bola” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Borrowed from Old Occitan bolla, from Vulgar Latin *bolla, from a merger of Latin bulla with Frankish *bollā. Doublet of bula.

bola f (plural *bolas)

1. bull (seal affixed to a document)
   • 1342, Johan Sanchez, [Santa María de Oseira], Chantada; republished as chapter 1612, in Miguel Romaní Martínez, editor, La colección diplomática de Santa María de Oseira, Santiago: Tórculo Edicións, 1989–1993, page 177:

     (please add the primary text of this quotation)

     [O qual privilegio era bolado de [...] bola de chunbo et de fios de sirgo do qual o tenor era tal en latin feyto, et por quanto en latin non entendian [todo homes pidio al] dito sennor que llo traladasse en romanço et o fezesse a min escrivir en tal que podessen entender aquelles a que tangesse et se guardassen d ' errar a o dito mosteiro d ' Osseyra mayor [parte].]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Fala: bola
• Galician: bola
• Portuguese: bola

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “bol+a”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese bola, borrowed from Old Occitan bolla, from Vulgar Latin *bolla, from a merger of Latin bulla with Frankish *bollā (compare English bowl). Doublet of bula and bolha.

• Rhymes: -ɔlɐ
• Hyphenation: bo‧la

bola f (plural bolas)

1. ball, sphere, round object

   Synonym: pelota

2. (sports) ball
3. fat person
4. (slang, in the plural) testicle
5. (colloquial) football, soccer

From bolo.

• Hyphenation: bo‧la

bola f (plural bolas)

1. bread roll (small, round bread)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• Hyphenation: bo‧la

bola

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

• “bola”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

bola

1. ball

bolâ

1. foam; bubble

bola (Cyrillic spelling бола)

1. inflection of bosti:
   1. feminine singular active past participle
   2. neuter plural active past participle

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɔla]

bola

1. feminine singular l-participle of byť

From Latin bulla. Doublet of bula and bolla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbola/ [ˈbo.la]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ola
• Syllabification: bo‧la

bola f (plural bolas)

1. ball

   Synonyms: balón, pelota

2. (slang) testicle
3. (ice cream) scoop
4. hilt (of a sword)
5. (Spain) muscle
6. (Dominican Republic, slang) hitchhiking, free ride

   Tomamos una bola para llegar aquí.

   We hitchhiked to get here.

7. (colloquial, El Salvador) dollar (USD); buck.

   Synonym: dólar

   Tengo cinco bolas en mi cartera.

   I have five dollars in my pocket.

8. (colloquial, Mexico) peso (MXN).
9. (colloquial, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador) a lot; a bunch

• → Bikol Central: bola
• → Cebuano: bola
• → English: bola
• → Hiligaynon: bola
• → Tagalog: bola

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

bola f

1. feminine singular of bolo

• “bola”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “bola”, 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

• Alba, Orlando (2004) Cómo hablamos los dominicanos: un enfoque sociolingüístico‎^[1] (overall work in Spanish), Santo Domingo: Grupo León Jimenes, →ISBN

From Portuguese bola (“ball”), with semantic development from "ball" > "ball of yarn" > "sewing thread".

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɔ.la]
• Hyphenation: bo‧la

bola (Sundanese script ᮘᮧᮜ)

1. (uncommon) ball

   Synonym: bal

2. (by extension) thread

• "BOLA", in Coolsma, S (1913) Soendaneesch-Hollandsch Woordenboek (in Dutch), Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff's Uitgeversmaatschappij

From Proto-Bantu *-bòda.

-bola

1. to rot, to decay

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived from Middle Low German bōlen, from bōle (“friend; lover; mistress”). Cognate of German buhlen and Dutch boelen. Compare origin of German Buhle.

• IPA^(key): /²buːla/

bola (present bolar, preterite bolade, supine bolat, imperative bola)

1. (archaic) bugger, wench, commit fornication

• boleri

• bola in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bola in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bola in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• bola in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

Borrowed from Spanish bola, from Old Occitan bola, from Latin bulla. Doublet of bula.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbola/ [ˈboː.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ola
• Syllabification: bo‧la

bola (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ)

1. ball; round object
2. ball game

   Synonym: bolahan

3. (figurative) flattery

   Synonym: hibo

4. (figurative) taunt; jest
5. (figurative) deception; bluff

   Synonyms: linlang, lalang, daya

6. drawing of winning numbers in a lottery

• “bola”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613) Juan de Silva, editor, Vocabulario de lengua tagala: El romance castellano puesto primero‎^[2], La Noble Villa de Pila
  • page 114: “Bola) Bola (pp) C. conque ya juegan eſtos”
  • page 376: “Iugar) Bola (pp) [al argolla]”

• balo, labo

Likely ultimately from Portuguese bola de gude (“marble”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈbo.la]

bola

1. a marble (toy)

• IPA^(key): [ˈbo.la]

bola

1. a spool

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

From Proto-Oceanic *bolac (“to spread out”) with irregular loss of *c, variant of *polac, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bəlaj, from Proto-Austronesian *bəlaj.

• IPA^(key): /bola/

bola

1. mat

• Sarah Elizabeth Byrne, A practice-centred approach to Uneapa Island's archaeology in a long-term context (2008). Oceania (vol. 87, no. 1). Ph.D. dissertation. University College London.

From Proto-Turkic *bāla.

• IPA^(key): /bɒ.la/, [bɒ̽.læ]
• Hyphenation: bo‧la

bola (plural bolalar)

1. child
2. young (of an animal)

From Middle Welsh boly, from Old Welsh bolg, from Proto-Brythonic *bolɣ, from Proto-Celtic *bolgos; cognate with Old Irish bolg.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔla/
• Rhymes: -ɔla

bola m (plural boliau)

1. belly

   Synonym: bol

• stumog (“stomach”)

From Proto-Bantu *-bòda.

-bola

1. (intransitive) to rot, to decay

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

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

bola

1. neotropical whipsnake (Masticophis mentovarius)

• Butler H., Inez M. (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de Yatzachi: Yatzachi el Bajo, Yatzachi el Alto, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 37)‎^[3], second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 29

From Proto-Bantu *-bòda.

-bola

1. (intransitive) to rot, to decay
2. (intransitive) to go bad