loa

Alternative forms

• lwa

Etymology

From Haitian Creole lwa.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈləʊə/
• Rhymes: -əʊə

Noun

loa (plural loas or loa)

1. In the voodoo religion, a spirit intermediary between Bondye (the creator god) and human beings.
   • 1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company, published 2004, page 36:

     Here, on the Island Below the Sea, the loa have their permanent residence, their primal location.

   • 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 3:

     Some will caution you at great length about the dangers of Vodou. They will tell you that the lwa are jealous, thin-skinned, and hot-tempered.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 714:

     Equally surprising is to find St Patrick so prominent in many Vodou shrines, until one remembers that he too had been a slave who had twice crossed the sea, the second time to freedom, and that he had particular power over snakes, like the loa (Haitian equivalent of orisha) Dambala Wèdo.

Anagrams

• -ola, AOL, Lao, OAL, Ola, ola

Noun

loa

1. genitive singular of luba

Verb

loa

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

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *loa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlo.a/, [ˈlo.wə]

Noun

loa

1. distance, length

Verb

loa

1. (stative) long, permanent

Etymology

Borrowed from translingual Loa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔ.a/
• Rhymes: -ɔa
• Hyphenation: lò‧a

Noun

loa f (plural loe)

1. any nematod of the Loa taxonomic genus

Further reading

• loa in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• Lao, alo, alo-, alò, olà

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *luaq (compare Malay luak).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlu.a]

Verb

loa

1. to vomit
2. to pay
3. to discharge

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• lôa (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: lo‧a

Etymology 1

Deverbal from loar.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈloa/ [ˈlo.a]
• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: lo‧a

Etymology 1

Deverbal from loar.

Etymology 2

Further reading

• “loa”, 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

Alternative forms

• lowa, luwa

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish loa.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈloa/ [ˈloː.ɐ]
• Rhymes: -oa
• Syllabification: lo‧a

Noun

loa (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜓᜏ) (ecclesiastical, poetry)

1. poetic panegyric of eulogy (usually in praise of the Virgin Mary and the saints)

Anagrams

• alo, ola, Lao

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔ.a/

Verb

lôa (perfect loile)

1. to bewitch

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 螺 (“spiral shell”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lwaː˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lwaː˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [l⁽ʷ⁾aː˧˧]

Noun

(classifier cái) loa

1. megaphone (portable device used to amplify a person's voice)
2. (by extension) speaker; loudspeaker

Anagrams

• lao