cova

From Vulgar Latin *cova, itself an alteration of Late Latin cava (or of a Vulgar Latin *covum, *covus), from Latin cavus.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈkɔ.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈkɔ.və]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkɔ.va]

cova f (plural coves)

1. cave

• cava

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

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈko.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈko.və]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈko.va]

cova

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

Inherited from Latin cōda.

cova f (plural coves) (ORB, broad)

1. tail

• queue in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• cova in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

From Old Galician-Portuguese cova (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria). Either from an archaic Latin *covus, Classical cavus (or variant of a Late Latin cava, from cavum),^[1] or from Vulgar Latin covus (“hollow of the hand”),^[2] or from a substrate; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱówHwos (“cavity”). Cognate with Portuguese cova and Spanish cueva.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔβa̝/

cova f (plural covas)

1. cave; cavern; grotto

   Synonyms: cafurna, caverna, covo, espenuca, furna, gruta, pala

2. grave

   Synonyms: burata, tumba

   • 1775, María Francisca Isla y Losada, Romance:

     Anque à prea non hègrande
     si ca si, ò sacristan
     disque à pestàna do figado
     se lle hiba alegrando já.
     Ô cont'hè, si enturra n'eso
     Deus me libre das suas más,
     que'anque eu non queira, na Coba
     de chantarme heche capàz.

     Although the booty is not large,
     anyhow, the sacristan's
     liver's eyes, reportedly,
     were shinning bright.
     The issue is, if he persists,
     God save me from his hands,
     that even if I don't want, in the grave
     he is capable of thrusting me

3. cave or hole in a surface

   Synonym: coviña

4. den

   Synonyms: tobo, toco

cova

1. feminine singular of covo

• Vilacova

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “cova”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “cova”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cova”, 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), “cova”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cova”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• IPA^(key): /ˈko.va/
• Rhymes: -ova
• Hyphenation: có‧va

cova f (plural cove)

1. brooding

   fare la cova ― to brood

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

cova

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

• cavo, cavò, vaco, vacò, voca

From Old Galician-Portuguese cova, from Vulgar Latin *cova, from covus, alternative form of Latin cavus (or from a variant of Late Latin cava, from cavum, cavus), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱówHwos (“cavity”). Compare Spanish cueva.

• Hyphenation: co‧va

cova f (plural covas)

1. hole, hollow, cavity
2. cavern
3. grave

• coveiro

cova

1. feminine singular of covo