proa

• parao, perahu, prahu, prau, prow

From Malay perau, a variant of perahu. In some forms via Portuguese parão or Dutch prauw; in some forms assimilated to prow.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹəʊ.ə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹoʊ.ə/
• Rhymes: -əʊə

proa (plural proas)

1. A sailing vessel found in the waters of Micronesia and Indonesia; it has a single, large outrigger and a triangular sail.
   • 1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter XXII, [1]

     I noticed that on the sea were numerous fantastically shaped canoes—or rather boats—like Malay proas, or the canoes used by many of the South Sea islanders.

   • 2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 231:

     Malay ‘prahu’ or proa were said to be more than a match for British vessels.

• Paro, prao, rapo, roap

proa f (plural proes)

1. alternative form of proba

Inherited from Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈpɾo.ə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈpɾo.a]

proa f (plural proes)

1. prow, bow (front part of a ship)

   Antonym: popa

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

proa

1. a traditional sailing outrigger boat of the Chamorro
2. prow, bow (front part of a ship)

proa m (plural proas)

1. alternative spelling of prao

• “proa”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• prao

From Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra).

proa f (plural proas)

1. bow, prow (front of a boat or ship)

   Antonym: popa

• “proa”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

proa

1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of proer:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

From Latin proba.

proa f (plural [please provide])

1. test, experiment
2. proof

• IPA^(key): /ˈpru.ɒ/

• Audio:

  (file)

proa f (plural pruas)

1. bow, prow

• popa

From Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra), related to pro (“beginning, forward”). Compare Spanish proa, French proue.

• Hyphenation: pro‧a

proa f (plural proas)

1. (nautical) bow, prow (front of a boat or ship)

   Synonym: vante

   Antonym: popa

• aproar
• figura de proa
• proeiro

• “prôa” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

proa

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of pròere

Inherited from Old Spanish proda, from Vulgar Latin *prōda, from Latin prōra (via dissimilation), borrowed from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra), from Proto-Indo-European *pro-, form of *por-. Compare Italian proda.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɾoa/ [ˈpɾo.a]
• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: pro‧a

proa f (plural proas)

1. (nautical) bow, prow (front of a boat or ship)

   Antonym: popa

• proel (adjective, near the prow)

• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1985) “proa”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume IV (Me–Re), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 657

• “proa”, 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

• prowa

Borrowed from Spanish proa, from Old Spanish proda, from Vulgar Latin *prōda, from Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prōîra).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾoa/ [ˈpɾoː.ɐ]
• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: pro‧a

proa (Baybayin spelling ᜉ᜔ᜇᜓᜏ) (nautical)

1. prow; bow; front part of a vessel

   Synonym: duong

• “prowa”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018