abba

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Latin, from Ancient Greek, from Aramaic אבא/ܐܒܐ (ʼabbāʼ, “father”); see abbot.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæb.ə/, /æˈbɑ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæb.ə/, /æˈbɑ/
• Rhymes: -æbə

Noun

abba (plural abbas)

1. (Christianity, Judaism) Father; religious superior; in the Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic churches, a title given to the bishops, and by the bishops to the patriarch; a title given to Jewish scholars in the Talmudic period.

   Coordinate term: amma

   • 2012, The Book of the Elders: Sayings of the Desert Fathers, →ISBN, page 135:

     The abba of the coenobion went to him and told him about the brother who had slipped up.

Etymology 2

Variant forms.

Noun

abba (plural abbas)

1. Alternative form of aba (Middle Eastern garment).
   • 1836, Thomas Hartwell Horne, Landscape Illustrations of the Bible:

     The rich turbans and flowing robes of the respectable merchants are finely contrasted with the rude sheepskin covering of the mountaineer, and the dark abba of the wandering Arab.

   • 1840, Nicholas Patrick Wiseman, The Dublin Review - Parts 1-2, page 420:

     Around their waist, instead of a shawl, they wear a girdle fastened with monstrous silver clasps which may be ornamented, according to the owner's taste, with jewels and in which they stick not only their Koordish dagger, but a pair of great brass or silver-knobbed pistols; from this, too, hang sundry powder-horns and shot-cases, cartridge-boxes, &c. ; and over all they cast a sort of cloak, or abba, of camel's hair, white or black, or striped white brown and black, clasped on the breast, and floating picturesquely behind.

   • 2014, Robert Richardson, Travels along the Mediterranean and Parts Adjacent, →ISBN, page 284:

     Conceiving that he had some solid reason for his refusal, which he could not with propriety disclose in presence of Omar Effendi, I did not urge him to accompany me; but laying aside my white burnous, which I had hitherto worn after the fashion of Cairo, put on a black abba of the Capo Verde which was brought me by as black a Hercules, of whom the interpreter remarked that there was only one person in Jerusalem, and that too a fellow-servant, who was piu diavolo che lui, more devil than he.

References

Anagrams

• AABB, baba

Afar

Etymology

From Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔab-, from a nursery word. Cognates include Saho abba, Somali aabo and Hebrew אבא (’abā’).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abˈba/,
• Hyphenation: ab‧ba

Noun

abbá m (plural abbobtí f or abboobí f)

1. father
2. chief
3. director

Declension

Coordinate terms

• iná (“mother”)

Derived terms

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “abba”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Enid M. Parker (2006) English-Afar dictionary, Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page vi
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page 113

Afrikaans

Etymology

Borrowing from the Khoemana/Korana word abba which means to carry someone, especially a child, on your back.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.ba/

Verb

abba (present abba, present participle abbaende, past participle geabba)

1. (transitive) to carry on one's back

Gallurese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈabba/

Noun

abba f (plural abbi)

1. Alternative form of apa (“bee”)

References

• Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964) Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg
• Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Gothic

Romanization

abba

1. Romanization of 𐌰𐌱𐌱𐌰

Hungarian

Etymology

az (“that”) +‎ -ba (“into”). The z of the demonstrative pronoun assimilates with the -b of the suffix.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ab‧ba

Pronoun

abba

1. illative singular of az (pointing at the inside of an object that is farther away from the speaker)

   Antonym: (pointing at the inside of an object close to the speaker) ebbe

   Abba a dobozba rakd a ruhákat. ― Put the clothes into that box.

Usage notes

This term may also be part of the split form of a verb prefixed with abba-, occurring when the main verb does not follow the prefix directly. It can be interpreted only with the related verb form, irrespective of its position in the sentence, e.g. meg tudták volna nézni (“they could have seen it”, from megnéz). For verbs with this prefix, see abba-; for an overview, Appendix:Hungarian verbal prefixes.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin abba, from Ancient Greek ἀββα (abba), from Aramaic אבא/ܐܒܐ (ʼabbāʼ, “father”). Doublet of abate.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈab.ba/
• Rhymes: -abba
• Hyphenation: àb‧ba

Noun

abba m (uncountable)

1. (Christianity, Judaism) abba

Related terms

• abate

Further reading

• abba in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• babà

Latin

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀββα (abba), from Aramaic אבא/ܐܒܐ (ʼabbāʼ, “father”), whence also Late Latin abbās.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈab.ba/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈab.ba/,

Noun

abba m (indeclinable)

1. father

   Synonym: pater

2. abbot

Descendants

• → Italian: abba
• → Middle English: abba
  • English: abba
• → Norwegian: abba
• → Old Frisian: abba

References

• “abba”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• abba in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• abba in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Marshallese

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese はっぱ (発破, happa).

Pronunciation

• (phonetic) IPA^(key): , (enunciated)
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /ɰæpˠpˠæɰ/
• Bender phonemes: {habbah}

Noun

abba (construct form abbain)

1. (alienable) dynamite

Synonyms

• bo̧kutan̄

References

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin abba (“father”), from Ancient Greek ἀββα (abba, “father, title of respect given to abbots”), from Aramaic אבא (’abbā, “father, teacher, ancestor, leader”), from Proto-Semitic *ʔabw- (“father”), from Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔab-, ultimately an onomatopoeic nursery word. Doublet of abbed and abbé.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈabːa/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -abːa
• Hyphenation: ab‧ba

Noun

abba

1. (Christianity, Judaism) Abba or Father (when speaking directly with God through prayer)
   • (Can we date this quote?), The Holy Bible: Mark 14,36:

     han sa: «Abba, Far! Alt er mulig for deg …»

     he said, "Abba, Father!" Everything is possible for you ... »

   • (Can we date this quote?), The Holy Bible: Rom 8,15:

     dere har fått Ånden som gir rett til å være Guds barn, den som gjør at vi roper: «Abba, Far!»

     you have received the Spirit who gives the right to be children of God, the one who causes us to cry out, 'Abba, Father!'

   • 1817, Hans Nielsen Hauge, Om Religiøse Følelser og deres Værd, page 9:

     [vårt hjerte] siger et Abba kjære fader

     says an Abba dear father

   • 1830-1837, Henrik Wergeland, Samlede Skrifter II,3, page 336:

     ja det er sandt som kammerherren siger. Abba! fader!

     yes it is true as the chamberlain says. Abba! father!

References

• “abba” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “abba” in Store norske leksikon

Anagrams

• baba

Nyunga

Interjection

abba

1. g'day

References

• 2011, Bindon, P. and Chadwick, R. (compilers and editors), A Nyoongar Wordlist: from the south-west of Western Australia, Western Australian Museum (Welshpool, WA), 2nd ed.

Old Frisian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin abba.

Noun

abba m

1. abbot

Inflection

Saho

Etymology

Cognates include Afar abbá and Somali aabo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abˈba/
• Hyphenation: ab‧ba

Noun

abba m (plural abbub m)

1. father
2. chief

Declension

References

• Moreno Vergari, Roberta Vergari (2007) “abba”, in A basic Saho-English-Italian Dictionary (revised version)

Sardinian

Etymology

From Latin aqua. Compare with the Campidanese àcua phonetic variation. Compare also with the Romanian apă.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈabba/

Noun

abba f (plural abbas)

1. (Logudorese, Nuorese) water

   Synonym: (archaic) imbre

2. (Logudorese, Nuorese) (by extension) rain

   Synonym: proja

3. (Logudorese, in the plural) amniotic fluid, waters

Derived terms

Related terms

References

• Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964) “ábba”, in Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg
• Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Sassarese

Pronunciation

• (Castelsardo, Sedini) IPA^(key): /ˈabba/

Noun

abba f (plural abbi)

1. (dialectal) Alternative form of abi (“bee”)

References

• Mauro Maxia (2014) “ábba”, in Piccolo dizionario castellanese e sedinese‎ (in Sassarese), page 8