loa

Alternative forms

• lwa

Etymology

From Haitian Creole lwa, perhaps from French roi (“king”). Doublet of roy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈləʊə/

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 2004, p. 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 2007, p. 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 2010, p. 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

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *loa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlo.a/, [ˈlowə]

Noun

loa

1. distance, length

Verb

loa

1. (stative) long, permanent

Etymology

Common Malayo-Polynesian, compare Malay luak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlu.a]

Verb

loa

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

Noun

loa f

1. singular definite of lo

Alternative forms

• lôa (obsolete)

Etymology

Back-formation from loar.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈlo.ɐ/
• Hyphenation: lo‧a

Noun

loa f (plural loas)

1. praise
2. (usually in the plural) carol

Noun

loa f (plural loas)

1. praise

Verb

loa

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of loar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of loar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of loar.

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˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) 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