alcoba

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic القُبَّة (al-qubba, “dome, cupola”), via Andalusian Arabic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈkoba/ [alˈko.β̞a]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oba
• Syllabification: al‧co‧ba

Noun

alcoba f (plural alcobas)

1. (poetic) bedroom

   Synonyms: dormitorio, cuarto, habitación, recámara

   • 2011, Margarida Rebelo Pinto, Mi querida Inés:

     Y para que no le quedasen dudas, usé de la mejor arma que una mujer posee, además de sus encantos físicos y dotes de alcoba: la fragilidad y el temor de Dios.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• Alcoba is a false friend, and does not mean alcove in Spanish. The Spanish word for that English meaning of alcoba is hornacina.

Further reading

• “alcoba”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10