arroba

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word arroba. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word arroba, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say arroba in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word arroba you have here. The definition of the word arroba will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofarroba, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: arrobá

English

Etymology

From Spanish and Portuguese arroba, from Old Spanish arroua and Old Galician-Portuguese arrova, from Andalusian Arabic and Arabic اَلرُّبْع (ar-rubʕ, one-fourth) in reference to its making up one fourth of a quintal.

Noun

arroba (plural arrobas)

  1. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of mass, varying by time, location, and substance but generally around 11.5 kilograms.
  2. (historical) A traditional Portuguese unit of mass, usually equivalent to 14.7 kilograms.
  3. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of liquid measure, varying by time, location, and substance but generally around 15 liters.

Coordinate terms

Translations

References

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese arroba and arrova, from Andalusian Arabic and Arabic اَلرُّبْع (ar-rubʕ, fourth) in reference to its making up one-fourth of a quintal. Cognate with Galician and Spanish arroba, Catalan arrova, and Maltese raba’.

Pronunciation

 

  • Hyphenation: ar‧ro‧ba

Noun

arroba f (plural arrobas)

  1. (historical) arroba, a traditional unit of mass, equivalent to 14.7 kg
  2. (typography) at, the name of the symbol @

Coordinate terms

Spanish

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia es

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aˈroba/
  • Rhymes: -oba
  • Syllabification: a‧rro‧ba

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish arroua, from Arabic اَلرُّبْع (ar-rubʕ, one-fourth), in reference to its forming one fourth of a quintal.

Noun

arroba f (plural arrobas)

  1. (historical) arroba (a traditional unit of mass generally equivalent to about 11.5 kg)
    • 1880, José Zorrilla, Recuerdos del tiempo viejo:
      volcaba él solo una caldera de doce arrobas de plomo fundido
      He turned over a twelve-arroba cauldron of molten lead by himself
  2. (typography) at (the symbol @)
Usage notes
  • The arroba is still used in some contexts within Spain and across Latin America, sometimes varying by region and application. The Aragonese arroba is about 16.3 kg and in Valencia it is about 13 kg for measuring oranges but 16.1 L for measuring wine.
Coordinate terms
Descendants
  • English: arroba
  • French: arobase

Etymology 2

Verb

arroba

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

Further reading