"boba" meaning in English

See boba in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈboʊ.bə/ [General-American], /ˈbəʊ.bə/ [UK] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-boba.wav [Southern-England] Forms: bobas [plural]
Etymology: From the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”), from 波 (bo1) transcribing English ball and 霸 (baa3, “chief, top”). Etymology templates: {{der|en|cmn|-}} Mandarin, {{der|en|zh|波霸|tr=bōbà}} Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), {{der|en|yue|波霸||large breasts, tapioca pearls|tr=bo1 baa3}} Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”), {{m|yue|波||tr=bo1}} 波 (bo1), {{der|en|en|ball}} English ball, {{m|yue|霸||chief, top|tr=baa3}} 霸 (baa3, “chief, top”) Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} boba (countable and uncountable, plural bobas)
  1. Synonym of tapioca pearl. Tags: countable, uncountable Synonyms: tapioca pearl [synonym, synonym-of]
    Sense id: en-boba-en-noun-oBu4mUwH Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms borrowed back into English Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 51 49 Disambiguation of English terms borrowed back into English: 52 48
  2. Short for boba tea. Tags: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable Alternative form of: boba tea
    Sense id: en-boba-en-noun-l-BMGTEv Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms borrowed back into English Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 51 49 Disambiguation of English terms borrowed back into English: 52 48
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: boba liberal

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for boba meaning in English (2.9kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cmn",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Mandarin",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "zh",
        "3": "波霸",
        "tr": "bōbà"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese 波霸 (bōbà)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "yue",
        "3": "波霸",
        "4": "",
        "5": "large breasts, tapioca pearls",
        "tr": "bo1 baa3"
      },
      "expansion": "Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "yue",
        "2": "波",
        "3": "",
        "tr": "bo1"
      },
      "expansion": "波 (bo1)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "en",
        "3": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "English ball",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "yue",
        "2": "霸",
        "3": "",
        "4": "chief, top",
        "tr": "baa3"
      },
      "expansion": "霸 (baa3, “chief, top”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”), from 波 (bo1) transcribing English ball and 霸 (baa3, “chief, top”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bobas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "boba (countable and uncountable, plural bobas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "boba liberal"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms borrowed back into English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of tapioca pearl."
      ],
      "id": "en-boba-en-noun-oBu4mUwH",
      "links": [
        [
          "tapioca pearl",
          "tapioca pearl#English"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "synonym",
            "synonym-of"
          ],
          "word": "tapioca pearl"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "boba tea"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms borrowed back into English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Short for boba tea."
      ],
      "id": "en-boba-en-noun-l-BMGTEv",
      "links": [
        [
          "boba tea",
          "boba tea#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈboʊ.bə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbəʊ.bə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-boba.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/00/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-boba.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-boba.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/00/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-boba.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-boba.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Bubble tea"
  ],
  "word": "boba"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed back into English",
    "English terms derived from Cantonese",
    "English terms derived from Chinese",
    "English terms derived from Mandarin",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English uncountable nouns"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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        "2": "cmn",
        "3": "-"
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "zh",
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      },
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      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "yue",
        "3": "波霸",
        "4": "",
        "5": "large breasts, tapioca pearls",
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      },
      "expansion": "Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "yue",
        "2": "波",
        "3": "",
        "tr": "bo1"
      },
      "expansion": "波 (bo1)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "en",
        "3": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "English ball",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "yue",
        "2": "霸",
        "3": "",
        "4": "chief, top",
        "tr": "baa3"
      },
      "expansion": "霸 (baa3, “chief, top”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 波霸 (bōbà), from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “large breasts, tapioca pearls”), from 波 (bo1) transcribing English ball and 霸 (baa3, “chief, top”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bobas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "~"
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      "expansion": "boba (countable and uncountable, plural bobas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "boba liberal"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of tapioca pearl."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "tapioca pearl",
          "tapioca pearl#English"
        ]
      ],
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        {
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          ],
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        }
      ],
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        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "boba tea"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English short forms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Short for boba tea."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "boba tea",
          "boba tea#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈboʊ.bə/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbəʊ.bə/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-boba.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/00/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-boba.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-boba.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/00/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-boba.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-boba.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Bubble tea"
  ],
  "word": "boba"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.