بوا

See also: توا

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology

From baby talk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buw.wa/

Noun

بوا • (buwwa) f

1. (childish) water
2. (childish) drink

Persian

Noun

بوا • (buâ, bwâ, bowâ)

1. (dialectal, Kazerun, Bushehr, Khesht, Konartakhteh, Dashtestan) colloquial form of بابا (bâbâ, “father, grandfather”)

Southwestern Fars

Noun

بوا (bovâ)

1. (Masarm, Deh Sarv, Kuzarg) father

Urdu

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /bʊ.ʋɑː/, [bʊ̯wɑː]
• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: بُ‧وَا

Noun

بُوَا • (buvā) f (Hindi spelling बुवा)

1. any female person (usually older)
2. a title affixed in front female names
3. sister (usually older)
4. mother (usually of another person's)
5. an old female servant
6. (Hindu) paternal aunt (father's sister)

Declension

Declension of بوا

	singular	plural
direct	بُوَا (buvā)	بُوَائیں (buvāẽ)
oblique	بُوَا (buvā)	بُوَاؤں (buvāõ)
vocative	بُوَا (buvā)	بُوَاؤ (buvāo)

Further reading

• “بوا”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “بوا”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “بوا”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]