bora

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bora"

Languages (25)

English

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Albanian • Chibcha • Cornish • Hausa • Hungarian • Icelandic • Italian • Ladino • Latvian • Northern Sami • Northern Sotho • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old Norse • Old Swedish • Portuguese • Romanian • Romansch • Serbo-Croatian • Swahili • Tswana • Turkish • Yoruba

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Page categories

English

Etymology 1

From Gamilaraay būru.

Alternative forms

• Bora

Noun

bora (plural boras)

1. An initiation ceremony for males among the Aboriginal people of New South Wales.
   • 1873, William Ridley, “Report on Australian Languages and Traditions”, in The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, volume 2:

     Birribirai, a youth not yet admitted to a bora.

   • 1885, A. L. P. Cameron, “Notes on some Tribes of New South Wales”, in The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, volume 14:

     By far the most important among the ceremonies practised by the aborigines of New South Wales is the Bora, at which youths are initiated to manhood...

Synonyms

• burbung

Derived terms

• bora ground

Etymology 2

Either from Serbo-Croatian bura (“downslope wind, northeast or ENE wind”), or from a dialectal form of Italian borea (“north wind”) from Latin Boreās.

Noun

bora

1. A cold, often dry, northeasterly wind which blows, sometimes in violent gusts, down from mountains on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. It also applies to cold, squally, downslope winds in other parts of the world.
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 650:

     When the bora blew down from the mountains, announcing the winter, would he ride it on out of town?

Translations

wind

Finnish: bora (fi) Friulian: buere f, bure f Hungarian: bóra (hu) Italian: bora f Malay: bora Polish: bora (pl) f Serbo-Croatian: bura (sh) f Slovene: burja f Venetan: bora (vec) f

Anagrams

• Abor, Baro, baro-, boar, broa

Albanian

Noun

bora

1. definite nominative singular of borë

Chibcha

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish bola.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /βoɾa/

Noun

bora

1. ball

References

• Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

Cornish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Brythonic *bọreɣ, from Proto-Celtic *bāregos (“morning”). Cognate with Breton beure (“morning”) and Welsh bore (“morning”).

Noun

bora m (plural boraow)

1. dawn

Related terms

• myttin (“morning”)
• mo (“dusk”)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bora m (plural borys)

1. boar

   Synonyms: torgh, badh

Mutation

Mutation of bora

unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed	mixed after 'th
bora	vora	unchanged	pora	fora	vora

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Hausa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bóː.ɽàː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [bóː.ɽàː]

Noun

bōrā̀ f (possessed form bōràr̃)

1. less-favored wife, wife who is not her husband's favorite

See also

• mōwā̀

Hungarian

Etymology

bor +‎ -a (possessive suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈborɒ]
• Hyphenation: bo‧ra

Noun

bora

1. third-person singular single-possession possessive of bor

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	bora	—
accusative	borát	—
dative	borának	—
instrumental	borával	—
causal-final	boráért	—
translative	borává	—
terminative	boráig	—
essive-formal	boraként	—
essive-modal	borául	—
inessive	borában	—
superessive	borán	—
adessive	boránál	—
illative	borába	—
sublative	borára	—
allative	borához	—
elative	borából	—
delative	boráról	—
ablative	borától	—
non-attributive possessive – singular	boráé	—
non-attributive possessive – plural	boráéi	—

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔːra/
• Rhymes: -ɔːra

Etymology 1

From Old Norse bora (“to drill”).

Verb

bora (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative boraði, supine borað)

1. to bore, drill [intransitive or with accusative]

Conjugation

bora – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að bora
supine sagnbót		borað
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		borandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	bora	boraði		bori	boraði
	þú	borar	boraðir		borir	boraðir
	hann, hún, það	borar	boraði		bori	boraði
plural	við	borum	boruðum		borum	boruðum
	þið	borið	boruðuð		borið	boruðuð
	þeir, þær, þau	bora	boruðu		bori	boruðu
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	bora (þú), boraðu
plural	þið	borið (þið), boriði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

borast – mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að borast
supine sagnbót		borast
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		borandist (rare; see appendix)
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	borast	boraðist		borist	boraðist
	þú	borast	boraðist		borist	boraðist
	hann, hún, það	borast	boraðist		borist	boraðist
plural	við	borumst	boruðumst		borumst	boruðumst
	þið	borist	boruðust		borist	boruðust
	þeir, þær, þau	borast	boruðust		borist	boruðust
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	borast (þú), borastu
plural	þið	borist (þið), boristi1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

boraður — past participle (lýsingarháttur þátíðar)

strong declension (sterk beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	boraður	boruð	borað	boraðir	boraðar	boruð
accusative (þolfall)	boraðan	boraða	borað	boraða	boraðar	boruð
dative (þágufall)	boruðum	boraðri	boruðu	boruðum	boruðum	boruðum
genitive (eignarfall)	boraðs	boraðrar	boraðs	boraðra	boraðra	boraðra
weak declension (veik beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	boraði	boraða	boraða	boruðu	boruðu	boruðu
accusative (þolfall)	boraða	boruðu	boraða	boruðu	boruðu	boruðu
dative (þágufall)	boraða	boruðu	boraða	boruðu	boruðu	boruðu
genitive (eignarfall)	boraða	boruðu	boraða	boruðu	boruðu	boruðu

Etymology 2

From Old Norse bora, from bora (“to drill”).

Noun

bora f (genitive singular boru, nominative plural borur)

1. hole (small and undesirable abode)
2. butthole (anus)

Declension

Declension of bora (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bora	boran	borur	borurnar
accusative	boru	boruna	borur	borurnar
dative	boru	borunni	borum	borunum
genitive	boru	borunnar	bora	boranna

Etymology 3

Noun

bora m

1. indefinite accusative/genitive plural of bor

Italian

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin borea.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.ra/
• Rhymes: -ɔra
• Hyphenation: bò‧ra

Noun

bora f (plural bore)

1. bora (north-eastern wind)

Anagrams

• Orba, baro, baro-, barò, orba, roba

Ladino

Etymology

From Greek βορράς (vorrás, “north; violent north wind”), from Ancient Greek Βορρᾶς (Borrhâs).

Noun

bora f

1. storm, torrential rain, gust of wind

Further reading

• Joseph Nehama, Jesús Cantera (1977), “bóra”, in Dictionnaire du Judéo-Espagnol (in French), Madrid: CSIC, →ISBN, page 96

Latvian

Noun

bora m

1. genitive singular of bors

Northern Sami

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Norwegian bor.

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpoːra/

Noun

bōra

1. boron

Inflection

Even a-stem, no gradation
Nominative	bōra
Genitive	bōra
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bōra	bōrat
Accusative	bōra	bōraid
Genitive	bōra	bōraid
Illative	bōrii	bōraide
Locative	bōras	bōrain
Comitative	bōrain	bōraiguin
Essive	bōran
Possessive forms Singular Dual Plural 1st person bōran bōrame bōramet 2nd person bōrat bōrade bōradet 3rd person bōras bōraska bōraset

Further reading

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎, Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpora/

Verb

bora

1. inflection of borrat:
   1. present indicative connegative
   2. second-person singular imperative
   3. imperative connegative

Northern Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀táà.

Noun

bora

1. bow

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• borene n or m (of bor, Etymology 2)
• boret (of bore)

Noun

bora n

1. definite neuter plural of bor (Etymology 2)

Verb

bora

1. inflection of bore:
   1. simple past
   2. past participle

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• borane

Noun

bora n or m

1. definite neuter plural of bor (Etymology 2)

Old English

Verb

bora

1. imperative singular of borian

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *burōną (“to drill, pierce, bore”).

Verb

bora

1. to bore

Conjugation

Conjugation of bora — active (weak class 2)

infinitive	bora
present participle	borandi
past participle	boraðr
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	bora	boraða		bora	boraða
2nd person singular	borar	boraðir		borir	boraðir
3rd person singular	borar	boraði		bori	boraði
1st person plural	borum	boruðum		borim	boraðim
2nd person plural	borið	boruðuð		borið	boraðið
3rd person plural	bora	boruðu		bori	boraði
imperative	present
2nd person singular	bora
1st person plural	borum
2nd person plural	borið

Conjugation of bora — mediopassive (weak class 2)

infinitive	borask
present participle	borandisk
past participle	borazk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	borumk	boruðumk		borumk	boruðumk
2nd person singular	borask	boraðisk		borisk	boraðisk
3rd person singular	borask	boraðisk		borisk	boraðisk
1st person plural	borumsk	boruðumsk		borimsk	boraðimsk
2nd person plural	borizk	boruðuzk		borizk	boraðizk
3rd person plural	borask	boruðusk		borisk	boraðisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	borask
1st person plural	borumsk
2nd person plural	borizk

Descendants

• Icelandic: bora
• Faroese: bora
• Norwegian Nynorsk: bore
• Norwegian Bokmål: bore
• Old Swedish: bora, bura
  • Swedish: borra
• Danish: bore
• Gutnish: bure, bur', bura

Noun

bora f (genitive boru, plural borur)

1. a drilling hole

Declension

Declension of bora (weak ōn-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bora	boran	borur	borurnar
accusative	boru	boruna	borur	borurnar
dative	boru	borunni	borum	borunum
genitive	boru	borunnar	borna	bornanna

Descendants

• Norwegian Nynorsk: bore f

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

bora

1. inflection of borr:
   1. indefinite accusative plural
   2. indefinite genitive plural

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “bora”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Old Swedish

Alternative forms

• bura

Etymology

From Old Norse bora, from Proto-Germanic *burōną.

Verb

bora

1. to drill, penetrate

Conjugation

Conjugation of bora (weak)

	present				past
infinitive	bora				—
participle	borandi, -e				boraþer
active voice	indicative	subjunctive	imperative		indicative	subjunctive
iæk	borar	bori, -e	—		boraþi, -e	boraþi, -e
þū	borar	bori, -e	bora		boraþi, -e	boraþi, -e
han	borar	bori, -e	—		boraþi, -e	boraþi, -e
vīr	borum, -om	borum, -om	borum, -om		boraþum, -om	boraþum, -om
īr	borin	borin	borin		boraþin	boraþin
þēr	bora	borin	—		boraþu, -o	boraþin
mediopassive voice	indicative	subjunctive	imperative		indicative	subjunctive
iæk	boras	boris, -es	—		boraþis, -es	boraþis, -es
þū	boras	boris, -es	—		boraþis, -es	boraþis, -es
han	boras	boris, -es	—		boraþis, -es	boraþis, -es
vīr	borums, -oms	borums, -oms	—		boraþums, -oms	boraþums, -oms
īr	borins	borins	—		boraþins	boraþins
þēr	boras	borins	—		boraþus, -os	boraþins

Descendants

• Swedish: borra

Portuguese

Etymology

Clipping of embora, from the phrase vamos embora (literally “let's go away”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.ɾɐ/

• Rhymes: -ɔɾɐ
• Hyphenation: bo‧ra

Interjection

bora

1. (informal) let's go

   Synonyms: vamos, vamos lá, vambora, vamo lá, vamo

   Bora! ― Let's go!

Particle

bora

1. (informal) hortative and cohortative particle; let's

   Synonyms: vamos, vamo

   Bora comprar algo para comer? ― How about we buy something to eat?

Further reading

• “bora”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “bora”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [boˈra]

Verb

bora

1. third-person singular imperfect indicative of borî

Romansch

Alternative forms

• bura (Sutsilvan)

Noun

bora f (plural boras)

1. (sports, Surmiran) ball

Synonyms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader) balla

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

bóra f (Cyrillic spelling бо́ра)

1. wrinkle
2. (geology) fold

Declension

Declension of bora

	singular	plural
nominative	bora	bore
genitive	bore	bora
dative	bori	borama
accusative	boru	bore
vocative	boro	bore
locative	bori	borama
instrumental	borom	borama

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindi बड़ा (baṛā, “large, great, massive; important; very”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Adjective

bora (invariable)

1. fine, excellent, splendid
2. better
3. best

Derived terms

• Verbal derivations:
  • Causative: -boresha (“to improve”)

• Nominal derivations:
  • ubora (“quality”)

Tswana

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀táà.

Noun

bora class 14 (plural mara)

1. bow