vara

Borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese vara (“rod”), from Latin vāra (“fork”).

vara (plural varas)

1. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of length, equivalent to about 83.7 cm.

   Synonyms: Spanish rod, Spanish ell, Spanish yard, (Spanish contexts) rod, ell, yard

   Coordinate terms: (¹⁄₈ vara) coto, (¹⁄₄ vara) palmo, (¹⁄₃ vara) pie, (¹⁄₂ vara) codo, (1+²⁄₃ pies) Spanish pace, estado, braza, (2 varas) toesa, (4 varas) estadal, (50 varas) cordel, (5,000 varas) legua

2. (historical) A traditional Portuguese unit of length, equivalent to about 1.1 m.

   Synonyms: Portuguese rod, Portuguese ell, Portuguese yard, (Portuguese contexts) rod, ell, yard

   Coordinate terms: (¹⁄₄₀ vara) polegada, (¹⁄₅ vara) palmo, (³⁄₁₀ vara) Portuguese foot, (³⁄₅ vara) covado, (English equivalents to the vara) yard, rod, ell, (1+¹⁄₂ varas) passo, (1+⁴⁄₅ varas) toesa, (2 varas) braça

3. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of area, equivalent to about 0.7 m².

   Coordinate terms: (100 varas) fanega, (1,000,000 varas) labor

• avar, arva, Avar

Inherited from Latin vāra (“fork”). Cognate with Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish vara.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈba.ɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈva.ɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈva.ɾa]

vara f (plural vares)

1. (historical, measure) vara, a Spanish rod, ell, or yard, a traditional unit of length

   Coordinate terms: (¹⁄₃ vara) peu, (1+²⁄₃ varas) pas, passa, (2 varas) braça

• “vara” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “vara”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “vara” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “vara” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Proto-Finnic *vara, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *warō, compare Swedish vara, German Ware, English ware. Cognate to Finnish vara and Livonian varā.

vara (genitive vara, partitive vara)

1. property, estate, goods; things belonging to a person or organisation

From Proto-Finnic *varas, borrowed from Proto-Baltic *vāras, compare Lithuanian voras (“old”). Cognate to Finnish varhain.

vara (comparative varem)

1. early

   Antonym: hilja

From Middle Low German waren.

vara (third person singular past indicative vardi, third person plural past indicative vart, supine vart)

1. to take, last, require (about time)

From Proto-Oceanic *paraq from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *para (compare with Ilocano pára).

vara

1. coconut heart or coconut apple, i.e. spongy cotyledon from a sprouting coconut

• Gatty, Ronald (2009) “vara”, in Fijian-English Dictionary, Suva, Fiji: Ronald Gatty, →ISBN, page 292
• Ross, Malcolm D., Pawley, Andrew, Osmond, Meredith (2008) The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volume 3: Plants, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, pages 373-4

From Proto-Finnic *vara (compare Estonian vara), borrowed from Proto-Germanic *warō (compare Swedish vara (“goods”), vara (“care”), English ware (“aware”), aware, English ware (“goods”)).

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑrɑ/, [ˈʋɑ̝rɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑrɑ
• Hyphenation^(key): va‧ra

vara

1. reserve, backup

   Mäyrä tarvitsee paksun rasvakerroksen talven varaksi. ― A badger needs a thick layer of fat as a reserve for winter.

   Minulla on ylimääräinen tulppa varalla. ― I have an extra plug as backup.

2. (in the plural) (natural) resources, (natural) reserves

   Synonym: luonnonvarat

   Irakilla on suuret öljyvarat. ― Iraq has large oil reserves.

3. (in the plural) stores, stocks, reserves

   Synonym: varasto

4. (usually in the plural) funds, means, assets, savings

   Synonyms: rahat, maksukyky (literally “ability to pay”), (asset) varallisuus

   Minulla ei ole tähän varaa. ― I can't afford this. (literally, “I don't have the funds for this.”)

5. (usually in the singular) room, margin; allowance

   Muista jättää kutistumisen varaa. ― Remember to leave an allowance for shrinking.

   Minulla ei ole varaa autoon.

   I can't afford a car.

   Meillä ei ole varaa virheisiin. ― We have no margin for errors.

6. (mostly in idioms and proverbs) caution, concern, care; often translated into English with an adjective, see also pitää varansa

   Synonym: varovaisuus

   Pidä varasi, ettet putoa. ― Be careful so that you don't fall.

   Ei vara venettä kaada. ― Caution does not overturn a boat. (proverb)

7. (woodworking) a tool for cutting long grooves into (the bottoms of) logs for fitting, or for drafting where the grooves will be cut

   Synonym: varausrauta

• “vara”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɾa/ [ˈba.ɾɐ]
• Rhymes: -aɾa

From Old Galician-Portuguese vara (“rod”) attested in the 13th century Cantigas de Santa Maria, from Latin vāra (“fork”). Cognate with Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish vara.

vara f (plural varas)

1. a long and thin stick, pole or rod

   Synonym: valoira

2. shoot; twig
3. (historical, measure) vara, especially as a cloth yard, a former unit of length

   Coordinate terms: (¹⁄₃ vara) pé, (1+²⁄₃ varas) paso, (2 varas) braza

   • 1335, M. Lucas Álvarez, P. Lucas Domínguez, editors, El monasterio de San Clodio do Ribeiro en la Edad Media: estudio y documentos, Sada / A Coruña: Edicións do Castro, page 463:

     que den a uos Eluira Perez en uossa vida de tres en tres annos çinquo varas de valacyna noua ou os dineiros para ella, quantos ella custar enna tenda

     they should give you, Elvira Pérez, throughout your life each three years, five yards of new Valencian cloth or the money for them, whatever it costs in the store

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

vara

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

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈvaːra/

  Rhymes: -aːra

From Old Norse vara.

vara f (genitive singular vöru, nominative plural vörur)

1. article, commodity
2. (in the plural form) goods, wares, freight, commodities, merchandise

• vöruheiti

From Old Norse vara, from Proto-Germanic *warōną.

vara (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative varaði, supine varað)

1. (transitive, governs the accusative) to warn

   Synonym: gefa aðvörun

From Middle Low German waren (whence also Swedish vara, Norwegian vare, Danish vare), from Proto-West Germanic *waʀōn.

vara (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative varði, supine varað)

1. (intransitive) to last, to continue, to go on

   Synonym: standa

   Hvað varir þetta lengi? ― How long will this last?

2. (intransitive) to last, to endure, to be permanent

   Synonym: endast

vara (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative varði, supine varað)

1. (impersonal) to expect
   • 1990, the song Það sést ekki sætari mey ("None sweeter than me can be seen") from the album Gling-Gló by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar (Lyrics)

     Og fyrr en mig varði
     hver strákur á mig starði
     eins og stelpur á gleym-mér-ei

     Before I would know it
     every boy would stare at me
     the way girls do at forget-me-nots

   Gestirnir komu fyrr en mig varði. ― The guests arrived earlier than expected.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

vara

1. indefinite genitive plural of var

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

vara

1. indefinite genitive plural of vör

From Proto-Finnic *vara, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *waraz. Cognates include Finnish vara and Estonian vara.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑrɑ/, [ˈʋɑrɑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑrɑ/, [ˈʋɑrɑ]
• Rhymes: -ɑrɑ
• Hyphenation: va‧ra

vara

1. protection, safety
2. property, possession
3. alertness, awareness

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 640

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /ˈva.ra/
• Rhymes: -ara
• Hyphenation: và‧ra

vara

1. feminine singular of varo

vara

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

• avrà

From Old Norse vera (“to be”), from Proto-Germanic *wesaną; see there for further details.

• (Western dialects) IPA^(key): [²ʋæːɾɐ], [¹ʋæ]
• (Hackås) IPA^(key): [¹ʋæː]
• (Ragunda) IPA^(key): [²ʋæra]^[1]
• (Fors) IPA^(key): [²ʋaɾa]

vara

1. to be

From Proto-Finnic *vara, borrowed from Germanic.

vara

1. reserve

From Spanish vara, ultimately derived from Latin vāra.

vara f (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling ב׳ארה, plural varas)

1. stick, rod, crossbar
2. (diminutive form, typography) The rafe lines in the shape of crossbars that can be used in Ladino orthography as diacritics on Hebrew script to alter the sound of letters to create new letters; a breve diacritic (˘) is placed on top of letters to form fricative consonant sounds, such as changing פ (/p/) into פﬞ (/f/); usually referred to by the diminutive varrica (“little crossbar”).

From the feminine of the adjective vārus, vāra, vārum (“bent in; knock-kneed; different”).

• vāra: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯aː.ra/, [ˈu̯äːrä]
• vāra: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈva.ra/, [ˈväːrä]
• vārā: (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯aː.raː/, [ˈu̯äːräː]
• vārā: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈva.ra/, [ˈväːrä]

vāra f (genitive vārae); first declension

1. fork, forked branch
2. tripod, easel

First-declension noun.

vāra

1. inflection of vārus:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

vārā

1. ablative feminine singular of vārus

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

See varš.

vara m

1. genitive singular of varš

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

vara f (4th declension)

1. power

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

vara

1. accusative/genitive singular of varra

• varen

vara m or f

1. definite feminine singular of vare

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑː.rɑ/

vara m (definite singular varaen, indefinite plural varaer or varaar, definite plural varaene or varaane)

1. clipping of vararepresentant

vara (present tense varar/varer, past tense vara/varte, past participle vara/vart, passive infinitive varast, present participle varande, imperative vara/var)

1. alternative form of vare

vara (present tense varar, past tense vara, past participle vara, passive infinitive varast, present participle varande, imperative vara/var)

1. alternative form of vare

vara f

1. definite singular of vare

vara n

1. definite plural of var

vara

1. (dialectal, nonstandard) alternative form of vera
   • 1949, Alf Prøysen, Dørstokken heme [The Doorstep at Home], Høvik, page 20:

     Nå kunde det vara det samma med alt.

     Now, it could be all the same [to him].

• “vara” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• arva, raav, rava, vaar

vara

1. genitive plural of vǫr

• væra, væræ

From Old Norse vera, earlier vesa, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną. Cognate with Danish være, Icelandic vera.

vara

1. To be
   1. to occupy a place, to be

• Swedish: vara

vara

1. excellent
2. noble

vara m or n

1. wish, boon, favour

As the masculine or neuter of the adjective above, as appropriate.

vara

1. second-person singular imperative active of varati (“to desire”)

Pali Text Society (1921–1925) “vara”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead

• Rhymes: -aɾɐ
• Hyphenation: va‧ra

From Old Galician-Portuguese vara (“rod”), from Latin vāra (“fork”). Cognate with Catalan, Galician, and Spanish vara.

vara f (plural varas)

1. (historical, measure) vara, a Portuguese rod, yard or ell, a former unit of length about equal to 1.1 m

   Coordinate terms: (¹⁄₄₀ vara) polegada, (¹⁄₅ vara) palmo, (³⁄₁₀ vara) pé, (³⁄₅ vara) côvado, (English equivalent, reckoned as ⁵⁄₆ vara) jarda, (1+¹⁄₂ vara) passo, (1+⁴⁄₅ varas) toesa, (2 varas) braça

2. (historical, measure) square vara, a former unit of area about equal to 1.2 m²

   Synonym: vara quadrada

   Coordinate terms: (¹⁄₂₅ vara) palmo, (403+¹⁄₃ varas) aguilhada, (4,840 varas) geira

3. a stick, a twig
4. a district court, an original court, a trial court or court of first instance
5. (collective) herd of pigs
6. (collective) band of coatis
7. (vulgar, slang) the penis

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

vara

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

• “vara”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2024
• “vara”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2024
• “vara” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “vara”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024
• “vara”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2024
• “vara”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

From vară +‎ -a.

• IPA^(key): /ˈva.ra/

vara

1. in the summer

vara f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of vară

vara (Cyrillic spelling вара)

1. genitive singular of var

vara (Cyrillic spelling вара)

1. third-person singular present of varati

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɾa/ [ˈba.ɾa]
• Rhymes: -aɾa
• Syllabification: va‧ra

From Latin vāra (“fork”). Cognate with Catalan, Galician, and Portuguese vara.

vara f (plural varas)

1. rod, pole (a long thin stick)

   Synonyms: palo, bastón, barra

2. rod (a thin cane or branch)

   Synonym: rama

3. rod (a staff of office)
4. (bullfighting) lance
5. (historical, measure) vara, a Spanish rod or yard (a traditional unit of length equivalent to about 83.7 cm)

   Coordinate terms: (¹⁄₈ vara) coto, (¹⁄₄ vara) palmo, (¹⁄₃ vara) pie, (¹⁄₂ vara) codo, (English equivalent) yarda, (1+²⁄₃ varas) paso, (2 varas) estado, braza, toesa, (4 varas) estadal, (50 varas) cordel, (5,000 varas) legua

6. (historical, measure) vara, a square vara (a traditional unit of area equivalent to about 0.7 m²)

   Synonym: vara cuadrada

   Coordinate terms: (100 varas) fanega, (10,000 varas) manzana

7. yardstick (a straight-edge tool for measuring length)
8. (figurative) yardstick (a standard used to establish a baseline for measurements or comparisons)

   Synonym: estándar

   • 2020 October 4, Franco Mizrahi, “La doble vara de la Corte Suprema de Justicia: los casos sensibles que posterga el máximo tribunal”, in El Destape‎^[2]:

     La inusual celeridad con la que la Corte Suprema de Justicia abordó el caso de los jueces Leopoldo Bruglia, Pablo Bertuzi y Germán Castelli expuso la doble vara con la que el Tribunal Supremo toma o deja los expedientes que le llegan.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)