toalla

Asturian

Noun

toalla f (plural toalles)

1. Alternative form of toballa

Galician

Etymology

Attested since the 13th century. Either from Old French toaille (“towel”), from Proto-West Germanic *þwahilu (“towel”), or directly from Gothic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /toˈaʎa̝/

Noun

toalla m (plural toallas)

1. towel
2. (archaic) tablecloth
   • 1438, X. Ferro Couselo, editor, A vida e a fala dos devanceiros, Vigo: Galaxia, page 172:

     sete mantas brancas de cama e tres mesas de mantées e dous de lata e outros alesmaniscos e un par de toallas

     seven white blankets for the bed, three tables of tablecloth (?), two [made] of boards and another two German ones, and a pair of towels

References

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

Spanish

Toalla de mano (hand towel).

Etymology

A borrowing from another Romance language which substituted the older tobaja, ultimately from Frankish *þwahilu.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /toˈaʝa/ [t̪oˈa.ʝa]

• IPA^(key): (most of Spain and Latin America) /toˈaʝa/ [t̪oˈa.ʝa]
• IPA^(key): (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines) /toˈaʎa/ [t̪oˈa.ʎa]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /toˈaʃa/ [t̪oˈa.ʃa]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /toˈaʒa/ [t̪oˈa.ʒa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -aʝa

• Rhymes: -aʝa
• Rhymes: -aʎa
• Rhymes: -aʃa
• Rhymes: -aʒa

• Syllabification: to‧a‧lla

Noun

toalla f (plural toallas)

1. towel

Derived terms

• tirar la toalla
• toalla de mano
• toallero m
• toallita f

 

Further reading

• “toalla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28