buba

Borrowed from Yoruba buba.

buba (plural bubas)

1. A woman's blouse worn in West African countries.

Semi-learned borrowing from Medieval Latin būbō (“bubo”), from Ancient Greek βουβών (boubṓn, “groin, swelling”).

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

buba f (plural bubes)

1. pimple

   Synonym: bua

2. pox

• bua

• bubó

• “buba”, 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

buba f

1. walking palm (Socratea exorrhiza)
2. floor made from the wood of the walking palm
3. floor

• “buba” in Gordon Koop, Lois Koop, Dicionário deni-português, Associação Internacional de Lingüística - SIL Brasil, 1985.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbuba/

buba

1. biceps

• (2003) Gamilaraay Yuwaalaraay Yuwaalayaay Dictionary

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bǫba.

• IPA^(key): /bûba/
• Hyphenation: bu‧ba

bȕba f (Cyrillic spelling бу̏ба)

1. bug
2. beetle

• “buba”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Compare Yoruba bùbá (“outer garment”), Baoule bui (“bark (skin)”), Kongo búuba (“outfit; small piece of cloth worn by a woman”), Mandinka bubá (“blouse”), Wolof buba (“garments”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Niger-Congo *-kwuba (“skin (bark, husk)”). ^[1]

• IPA^(key): /bu.ba/

buba

1. skin
   • 1855 April 23, “De slavernij en hare gruwelen in Suriname [Slavery and its horrors in Suriname]”, in Algemeen Handelsblad‎^[2], Amsterdam, page 4:

     Pieri me na boeba, fo na ningre

     [Piri mi na buba fu na nengre]

     Strip me that Negro's skin off

2. (by extension), skin colour, race
   • 1985, “Mi Dren (I Shall Be Released)”, in Anne-Marie Hunsel (lyrics), Bob Dylan (music), Mi Dren (I Shall Be Released)‎^[3], performed by Anne-Marie Hunsel:

     Ini mi dren mi ben syi / fa Srananman ben makandra / Ala buba ben kon na wan / Ke Masra, mi winsi a ben de tru

     In my dream, I saw / how the Surinamese were getting along / All races had united / Oh Lord, I wish it were true

3. fur, fleece
4. peel
5. shell, husk, crust, bark
6. sapwood
   • 1783, C. L. Schumann, Neger-Englisches Worterbuch [Negro English Dictionary]‎^[4], archived from the original on 8 February 2023:

     Kuljara va ju no habi bunne hudu, da buba soso

     Your canoe doesn't have proper wood, it's just sapwood.

7. sheath

• Aukan: buba
• Saramaccan: búba

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

buba class IX (plural buba class X)

1. yaws

• M J F Cooper (15 November 2007) Swahili Medical Dictionary and Phrasebook, 2nd edition, Lulu.com, page 56

• IPA^(key): /ˈbu.ba/

buba

1. (stative) alternative form of boba (“to call, summon”)

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[5], Pacific linguistics

Likely from a Songhay language, compare Baoule bui (“bark (skin)”), Kongo búuba (“outfit; small piece of cloth worn by a woman”), Mandinka bubá (“blouse”), Wolof buba (“garments”), Sranan Tongo buba (“skin”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Niger-Congo *-kwuba (“skin (bark, husk)”).

• IPA^(key): /bù.bá/

bùbá

1. (fashion) blouse or outer garment worn by women

   Synonym: bùbá obìnrin

2. (fashion) top or outer garment worn by men

   Synonym: bùbá ọkùnrin

3. (fashion) inner garment worn by men typically under an agbada