raba

See also: Rába, raba', and Rąba

Afar

Etymology 1

Cognate with Saho raba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈraba/ [ˈɾʌbʌ]
• Hyphenation: ra‧ba

Noun

rába m

1. death

Declension

Declension of rába
absolutive	rába
predicative	rába
subjective	rabí
genitive	rabí
Postpositioned forms l-case rábal k-case rábak t-case rábat h-case rábah

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raˈba/ [ɾʌˈbʌ]
• Hyphenation: ra‧ba

Verb

raba

1. inflection of rabé (“die”):
   1. first-person singular affirmative imperfective indicative
   2. third-person singular masculine affirmative imperfective indicative

References

• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “ràba”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN, page 179
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015), L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎^[1], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Estonian

Etymology 1

Cognate to Finnish rapa (“dirt”). Most likely from Proto-Norse *draƀa-. Compare Swedish drav.

Noun

raba (genitive raba, partitive raba)

1. moor (region with poor, marshy soil, peat, and heath)

Declension

Declension of raba (ÕS type 17u/saba, no gradation)
	singular	plural
nominative	raba	rabad
accusative	nom.
gen.	raba
genitive	rabade
partitive	raba	rabu rabasid
illative	rappa rabasse	rabadesse rabusse
inessive	rabas	rabades rabus
elative	rabast	rabadest rabust
allative	rabale	rabadele rabule
adessive	rabal	rabadel rabul
ablative	rabalt	rabadelt rabult
translative	rabaks	rabadeks rabuks
terminative	rabani	rabadeni
essive	rabana	rabadena
abessive	rabata	rabadeta
comitative	rabaga	rabadega

Etymology 2

From Proto-Finnic *rapa, from Proto-Norse *draƀa-. Compare Swedish drav.

Noun

raba (genitive raba, partitive raba)

1. sediment left over after the creation of beer or kvass

Declension

Declension of raba (ÕS type 17/elu, no gradation)
	singular	plural
nominative	raba	rabad
accusative	nom.
gen.	raba
genitive	rabade
partitive	raba	rabasid
illative	rappa rabasse	rabadesse
inessive	rabas	rabades
elative	rabast	rabadest
allative	rabale	rabadele
adessive	rabal	rabadel
ablative	rabalt	rabadelt
translative	rabaks	rabadeks
terminative	rabani	rabadeni
essive	rabana	rabadena
abessive	rabata	rabadeta
comitative	rabaga	rabadega

Galician

Etymology

From rabo (“turnip”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈraβɐ]

Noun

raba m (plural rabas)

1. turnip greens
2. a bait made with roe

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “raba”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “raba”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “raba”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈraba/
• Hyphenation: ra‧ba
• Rhymes: -ba, -a

Etymology 1

From Malay raba.

Verb

raba

1. (ambitransitive) to palpate; to touch, rub, or feel by physical contact

   Synonyms: jamah, rogoh

   • 1949, Chairil Anwar, Mirat Muda, Chairil Muda:

     Mirat raba urut Chairil, raba dada
     Dan tahulah dia kini [...]

     Mirat runs her hands over Chairil, feeling his chest.
     And now, she realizes [...]

     (literally, “Mirat touches [and] massages Chairil, touching [his] chest.
     And now she knows [...]”)

2. (figurative, intransitive) to guess, to surmise; to suspect.

   Synonyms: duga, kira

Derived terms

• meraba
• meraba-raba
• merabai
• peraba
• perabaan
• raba-rabaan
• rabaan
• teraba
• teraba-raba

Etymology 2

From Minangkabau raba.

Adjective

raba (comparative lebih raba, superlative paling raba)

1. (dialect) angry

   Synonym: marah

Derived terms

• meraba
• peraba

Further reading

• “raba”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Alternative forms

• rabba
• raiba, reba (uncommon)

Etymology

From Arabic رَحْب (raḥb, “marketplace of grain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈra.ba/
• Rhymes: -aba
• Hyphenation: rà‧ba

Noun

raba f (plural rabe)

1. (historical) denoting: [from 5th to 16th c.]
2. (Sicily) a grain warehouse
3. (Genoa) a warehouse with a marketplace in front of it (the only allowed location for grain sale)
4. (Pisa) the fee paid by merchants in order to deposit their goods in public trading posts

Further reading

• “raba”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• bara

Japanese

Romanization

raba

1. Rōmaji transcription of らば
2. Rōmaji transcription of ラバ

Malay

Verb

raba

1. guess

Derived terms

Affixations

• meraba

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈrapa/

Verb

raba

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

Old Irish

Verb

·raba

1. first-person singular perfect prototonic of at·tá

Polish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈra.ba/

• (Greater Poland):
  • (Chełmno-Dobrzyń) IPA^(key): [ˈra.ba]

• Rhymes: -aba
• Syllabification: ra‧ba
• Homophone: Raba

Etymology 1

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

Noun

raba f

1. (Chełmno-Dobrzyń) synonym of maciora (“sow”)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

raba m pers

1. genitive/accusative singular of rab

Further reading

• Antoni Krasnowolski (1879), “raba”, in Album uczącéj się młodzieży polskiéj poświęcone Józefowi Ignacemu Kraszewskiemu z powodu jubileuszu jego pięćdziesięcioletniéj działalności literackiéj (in Polish), Lviv: Czytelni Akademickiéj Lwowskiéj; "Gaz. Narod." J. Dobrzańskiego i K. Gromana, Słowniczek prowincjalizmów zebranych w ziemi chełmińskiej i świeckiej, page 307

Portuguese

Etymology

Variation of rabo.

Noun

raba f (plural rabas)

1. (informal, vulgar) ass, butt (the buttocks)

Further reading

• “raba”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ràːba/

Noun

rába f

1. use (act of using)

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, a-stem
nom. sing.	rába
gen. sing.	rábe
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	rába	rábi	rábe
genitive (rodȋlnik)	rábe	ráb	ráb
dative (dajȃlnik)	rábi	rábama	rábam
accusative (tožȋlnik)	rábo	rábi	rábe
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	rábi	rábah	rábah
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	rábo	rábama	rábami

Spanish

Etymology

Unknown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈraba/ [ˈra.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -aba
• Syllabification: ra‧ba

Noun

raba f (plural rabas)

1. (Argentina, Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, chiefly in the plural) deep-fried calamari

Further reading

• “raba”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from English rubber.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

raba class IX (plural raba class X)

1. running shoe, sneaker (shoe with rubber soles)
2. rubber, eraser

   Synonym: kifutio

3. (slang) condom

   Synonyms: kondomu, soksi

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɾa.ba]

Verb

raba

1. (transitive) to seize, confiscate

Conjugation

Conjugation of raba

	singular	plural
inclusive	exclusive
1st person	toraba	foraba	miraba
2nd person	noraba	niraba
3rd person	masculine	oraba	iraba yoraba (archaic)
feminine	moraba
neuter	iraba

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *rapa.

Noun

raba

1. sediment
2. coffee grounds

Inflection

Inflection of raba (inflection type 6/kuva)
nominative sing.	raba
genitive sing.	raban
partitive sing.	rabad
partitive plur.	—
	singular	plural
nominative	raba	—
accusative	raban	—
genitive	raban	—
partitive	rabad	—
essive-instructive	raban	—
translative	rabaks	—
inessive	rabas	—
elative	rabaspäi	—
illative	rabaha	—
adessive	rabal	—
ablative	rabalpäi	—
allative	rabale	—
abessive	rabata	—
comitative	rabanke	—
prolative	rabadme	—
approximative I	rabanno	—
approximative II	rabannoks	—
egressive	rabannopäi	—
terminative I	rabahasai	—
terminative II	rabalesai	—
terminative III	rabassai	—
additive I	rabahapäi	—
additive II	rabalepäi	—

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “гуща”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[2], Petrozavodsk: Periodika