boca

See also: Boca, bóca, böca, and boça

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin bucca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboka/
• Rhymes: -oka
• Syllabification: bo‧ca

Noun

boca f (plural bocas)

1. (anatomy) mouth

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin bucca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboka/ [ˈbo.ka]
• Rhymes: -oka
• Syllabification: bo‧ca

Noun

boca f (plural boques)

1. (anatomy) mouth

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin bucca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈbo.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈbo.ka]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oka
• Hyphenation: bo‧ca

Noun

boca f (plural boques)

1. (anatomy) mouth

Derived terms

• abocar
• bocabadat
• bocafluix
• bocagròs
• bocamoll
• bocarrut
• bocut
• de bocaterrosa
• embocar

Further reading

• “boca” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “boca”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “boca” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “boca” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese boca, from Latin bucca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboka/ [ˈbo.kɐ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oka
• Hyphenation: bo‧ca

Noun

boca f (plural bocas)

1. (anatomy) mouth
   • 1370, Ramón Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 275:

     Et auj́a o nariz alto por mesura et a boca ben feyta et dentes ben postos et brãcos et o queixo quadrado et o colo longo et as espádoas anchas

     He had a high and measured nose and his mouth was well formed; the teeth, well disposed, were white; and the chin was square and the neck long, his shoulders were broad

Derived terms

• ceo da boca

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “boca”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “boca”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “boca”, 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), “boca”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “boca”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
• “boca”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Hausa

Etymology

Borrowed from English voucher.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bōcā̀ f (plural bōcōcī, possessed form bōcàr̃)

1. financial voucher

Ladino

Noun

boca f (Hebrew spelling בוקה)

1. Alternative spelling of boka
   • 1973, Annual‎^[1], volumes 8-10, page 176:

     El bostejo va de boca en boca, como el pašarico de oja en oja.

     Yawning goes from mouth to mouth like the bird from bough to bough.

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan, from Latin bucca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buko/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

boca f (plural bocas)

1. (anatomy) mouth

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboː.kɑ/

Noun

bōca

1. genitive plural of bōc

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin bucca (“cheek”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboka/

Noun

boca f (plural bocas)

1. mouth
   • c. 1200, Almeric, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 34r. b.

     Todos aq̃llos / q̃ nõ fincaron los ynojos / ala ydola e todas las bocas q̃ / la no beſaron […]

     All those who did not kneel their knees before the idol and all the mouths that did not kiss her […]

   • Idem, f. 42r. a.

     dixo el ppħa lo q̃ el criador puſie / re em mi boca eſſo fablare […]

     The prophet said: "that which the creator puts in my mouth, that is what I shall speak."

Descendants

• Ladino: boka (Latin spelling)
• Spanish: boca

Portuguese

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese boca, from Latin bucca, of Celtic origin.

Alternative forms

• bôca (pre-reform spelling)
• bocca (pre-standardization spelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbo.kɐ/

• Rhymes: -okɐ
• Hyphenation: bo‧ca

Noun

boca f (plural bocas)

1. (anatomy) mouth (the opening of a creature through which food is ingested)

   Evite respirar pela boca enquanto corre

   Avoid breathing by the mouth when running

   • 1880, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, “As filhas de Victor Hugo [The daughters of Victor Hugo]”, in Contos e phantasias [Short stories and fantasies]‎^[2], 2nd edition, Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, published 1905, page 304:

     Ah! é que umas são a ignorancia na sua perfeição mais divina, outras guardam na bocca o gosto amargo de todos os fructos vedados que teem devorado!

     Ah! It is that some embody ignorance in its most divine perfection, while others carry in their mouth the bitter taste of all the forbidden fruits they have devoured!

2. mouth (the end of a river out of which water flows into a sea or other large body of water)
   • 1826, Academia das ciências de Lisboa, Collecçao de noticias para a historia e geografia das naçoes ultramarinas, que vivem nos dominios portuguezes, ou lhes sao visinhas..., Typografia da mesma Academia, page 9:

     Deste canal lança o Amazonas pela terra dentro aquella porção de agoa, que junta com a referida do Akeky fórma o rio deste nome, que dá entrada para o' Amazonas pela bocca do Xingú.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. brim (of a bottle or any other container)

   Synonym: bocal

   Encha até a boca ― Fill it up to the brim

4. burner, ring (of a stove)
5. (Brazil, slang) illegal drug shop

   Synonyms: biqueira, bocada, bica

Derived terms

• bocão, bocona (augmentative)
• boquinha (diminutive)

Descendants

• Guinea-Bissau Creole: boka
• Kabuverdianu: bóka
• Kristang: boka

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.kɐ/

• Rhymes: -ɔkɐ
• Hyphenation: bo‧ca

Verb

boca

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

Further reading

• “boca”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “boca”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Venetan bozza.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bôt͡sa/
• Hyphenation: bo‧ca

Noun

bȍca f (Cyrillic spelling бо̏ца)

1. bottle

   Synonym: flaša

2. tank (diving cylinder, gas cylinder)

Declension

Declension of boca

	singular	plural
nominative	bȍca	boce
genitive	boce	bȏcā
dative	boci	bocama
accusative	bocu	boce
vocative	boco	boce
locative	boci	bocama
instrumental	bocom	bocama

Further reading

• “boca”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish boca, from Latin bucca (“cheek”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈboka/ [ˈbo.ka]

• Audio (Latin America):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oka
• Syllabification: bo‧ca

Noun

boca f (plural bocas)

1. (anatomy) mouth, oral cavity

   Synonyms: (colloquial) pico, (pejorative) hocico

2. entrance, opening

   Synonym: entrada

   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 189:

     Las cocineras, para evitar que el Demonio eche a perder la comida, hacen la señal de la cruz sobre la boca de la olla.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2019 May 9, María Belén Etchenique, “Radiografía del subte: una red que crece a paso lento pero suma 200 pasajeros por día”, in El Clarín (Argentina)‎^[3]:

     De lunes a viernes, Buenos Aires se llena y vacía a través de sus bocas de subte.

     From Monday to Friday, Buenos Aires is filled and emptied through its metro entrances.

3. estuary

   Synonyms: estero, estuario

Derived terms

• a boca de cañón
• a boca de costal
• a boca de invierno
• a boca de jarro
• a boca de noche
• a boca llena
• a bocajarro
• a pedir de boca
• abocar
• abreboca
• arpa de boca
• boca a boca
• boca abajo
• boca arriba
• boca de cangrejo
• boca de dragón
• boca de escorpión
• boca de espuerta
• boca de fraile
• boca de fuego
• boca de gachas
• boca de incendio
• boca de la isla
• boca de lobo
• boca de oro
• boca de riego
• boca de risa
• boca de sonido
• boca de verdades
• boca del estómago
• boca del lobo
• boca floja
• boca por boca
• Boca Ratón
• bocabajo
• bocacha
• bocadillo
• bocado
• bocal
• bocarriba
• bocata
• bocón
• boquiabierto
• boquifresco
• boquilla
• boquita
• caballo de buena boca
• callar la boca
• callarse la boca
• cielo de la boca
• cola de boca
• con la boca abierta
• con la boca chica
• con la boca pequeña
• coserse la boca
• de boca en boca
• de la mano a la boca desaparece la sopa
• de manos a boca
• decir esta boca es mía
• desbocar
• embocar
• en boca cerrada no entran moscas
• estar en boca de todos
• hablar por boca de ganso
• hacer boca
• irse la fuerza por la boca
• La Boca
• la boca hace juego
• llevarse a la boca
• municiones de boca
• palabra de boca, piedra de honda
• por la boca muere el pez
• por una boca
• punto en boca
• quien tiene boca, se equivoca
• reír a boca llena
• tapabocas
• telón de boca
• tener buena boca
• torcer la boca

Related terms

• bucal

Further reading

• “boca”, 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