Etymology

cola

C3O1L1A1

Today it means: The kola plant, genus Cola, famous for its nut, or one of these nuts. Full definition →

Niger-Congo
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cola · noun1

  1. Niger-Congo · derived from
  2. English todaycola

From a Niger-Congo language, compare Temne kola, Mandinka kola. The beverage "Coca-Cola" was what made the term widely known, and popularized the spelling with c instead of k.

cola · noun2

See colon.

cola · noun3

  1. Latin · derived fromcauda
  2. Vulgar Latin · derived fromcoda
  3. Spanish · borrowed fromcola“tail”
  4. English todaycola

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish cola (“tail”), from Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda, or from its diminutive caudula. Doublet of queue and coda.

COLA · noun, proper noun4

Acronym

Words from the same roots

Vulgar Latincoda all →

queue

Latincauda all →

queuecowardcodacaudatebicaudalcaudadcaudationcaudectomycaudo-codillatricaudal

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.