کوا

Urdu

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Hindi کَوا (kau(v)ā /⁠kvā⁠/) (c. 1609), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀓𑀸𑀬 (kāya), from Sanskrit काक (kā́ka).

Cognates

Compare Kashmiri کاو (kāv), Punjabi کاں (kāṉ) and کَن٘و (kaṉv), Sindhi ڪَان (kā̃) and ڪَاءُن (kā̃ũ), Shina کاں (kā̃), Bengali কাউয়া (kauẏa). Doublet of کاگ (kāg).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /kəʋ.ʋɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Noun

کَوَّا • (kavvā) m (Hindi spelling कौआ or कौवा)

1. crow, raven
2. jackdaw
3. (figuratively) cunning

Declension

Declension of کوا

	singular	plural
direct	کَوَّا (kavvā)	کَوَّے (kavve)
oblique	کَوَّے (kavve)	کَوَّوں (kavvõ)
vocative	کَوَّے (kavve)	کَوَّو (kavvo)

Further reading

More information

• “کوا”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “کوا”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “کوا”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “کوا”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 953
• John Shakespear (1834) “کوا”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC