foca

See also: FOCA, Foça, and focă

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin phōca.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

foca f (plural foques)

1. (mammals) seal

   Synonyms: llop marí, llop de mar, vell marí, serena

Derived terms

• foca barbuda
• foca comuna
• foca grisa
• foca lleopard
• foca monjo

 

Further reading

• “foca” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔka/ [ˈfɔ.kɐ]
• Rhymes: -ɔka

Etymology 1

From foco (“hollow”).

Noun

foca f (plural focas)

1. hole, piercing
   • c. 1780, Anonymous, Cincuenta décimas contra Cernadas:

     Mordesme en Papeliños,
     que leeron moitas Xentes:
     mordes me, chantasme os dentes
     chantame agora os focinos:
     si lendo estes meus termiños
     fixères xestos, ou mocas,
     ê contra min te desuocas,
     ê con Mocas ques ferir me,
     e focas no Corpo abrirme,
     Chantame as mocas nas focas.

     You bite me in little papers
     that many people have read
     You bite me, thrust you teeth in me
     Thrust now your snout
     If reading these my terms
     You do gestures or grimaces
     and against me you run off at the mouth
     and with clubs you want to injure me
     and holes in my body open
     Thrust the clubs into my holes

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin phōca, from Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē, “seal, sea dog”).

Noun

foca f (plural focas)

1. (mammals) seal

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “foca”, 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), “foca”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “foca”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology

From Latin phōca, from Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē). Compare French phoque.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.ka/
• Rhymes: -ɔka
• Hyphenation: fò‧ca

Noun

foca f (plural foche)

1. (mammals) seal

   Synonym: vecchio marino

Derived terms

• foca monaca
• fochiera

Further reading

• foca on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it

Portuguese

foca

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔkɐ

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ.kɐ/

• Hyphenation: fo‧ca

Etymology 1

From Latin phōca, from Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē, “seal, sea dog”).

Noun

foca f (plural focas)

1. (mammals) seal

foca m or f by sense (plural focas)

1. (Brazil, journalism) a journalist at the start of his/her career
   • 1989, Paulo Rangel, O Assassinato do Conto Policial, FTD, →ISBN, page 10:

     — Por falar nisso, sabe o que é um foca?
     — Sei — disse Cotoxó.
     — Que é? Diga!
     — Foca é um repórter em início de carreira, que ganha mal, se veste mal, come mal, escreve mal, só diz bobagens, não tem cultura, é tido como idiota e um dia se torna chefe da redação.

     “By the way, do you know what a seal is?”
     “Yes”, said Cotoxó.
     “What is it? Tell me!”
     “A seal is a reporter at the beginning of his career, who earns badly, dresses badly, eats badly, writes badly, says nothing but nonsense, has no culture, is considered an idiot and one day becomes head of the newsroom.”

2. an avaricious individual

See also

• leão-marinho
• morsa

Etymology 2

Verb

foca

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

Further reading

• foca on the Portuguese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^pt

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfoka]

Noun

foca f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of focă

Spanish

La foca besó al capitán en la mejilla. ― The seal kissed the captain on the cheek.

Etymology

Inherited from Latin phōca, from Ancient Greek φώκη (phṓkē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfoka/ [ˈfo.ka]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oka
• Syllabification: fo‧ca

Noun

foca f (plural focas)

1. seal (animal belonging to the parvorder Pinnipedia of semi-aquatic marine mammals)

   Synonyms: lobo marino, lobo del mar

   • 1621, Lope de Vega Carpio, “La Andromeda”, in La Filomena con otras diuerſas Rimas, Proſas y Verſos [The Filomena with Other Diverse Rhymes, Proses and Verses], Madrid: Francisca de Medina, page 106:

     Con fieras anſias, con mayor trabajo,
     La Foca ſepultaua la grandeza
     Del monſtruoſo cuerpo entre las olas,
     Si bien moſtraua ya las fuentes ſolas.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1932, M[iguel] Mihura, “Tres sombreros de copa”, in Tres sombreros de copa [Three Top Hats], Editora Nacional, published 1947, Act I:

     Estoy tan acostumbrado a bañarme en Noruega, que no puedo habituarme a estar en el agua sin tener un par de focas junto a mí.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (colloquial) whale (fat person)

Derived terms

• como una foca
• foca anillada de Saimaa
• foca barbuda
• foca común
• foca de Groenlandia
• foca leopardo
• foca manchada
• foca moteada
• foca pía
• piel de foca

 

Descendants

• → Tetelcingo Nahuatl: foca

 

See also

• nerpa

 

Further reading

• “foca”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 23rd edition, Royal Spanish Academy, 2014 October 16

• “foca”, in Diccionario histórico de la lengua española, Real Academia Española, 2022

Tetelcingo Nahuatl

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish foca.

Noun

foca (plural focas)

1. seal (animal)
   • 1964, Yulcöme [Animals]‎^[1], México, D.F.: El Instituto Lingüístico de Verano en cooperación con la Dirección General de Asuntos Indígenas de la Secretaría de Educación Pública, page 71:

     Ini foca nemi ipa Asia, Miexijco hua ipa Estado Unidos.

     The seal lives in Asia, Mexico and in the United States.