Havana

Ha·va·na
H4A1V4A1N1A1
UK/həˈvæ.nə/US/-ˈvɑː-/

proper noun

The capital city of Cuba.

OriginSpanish La Habana ← Taíno Habaguanex ← Latin illa →
Less commonScrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper noun
  1. The capital city of Cuba.

    It was notable enough that when President Calvin Coolidge visited Havana in 1928, Cuba’s president offered him one at the presidential palace.

    December 2019/January 2020, Wayne Curtis, “Discover Cuba’s Other Rum Cocktail: El Presidente”, in Garden & Gun, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2021
    1. metonymicallyThe Cuban government.
  2. A city, the county seat of Mason County, Illinois, United States.
  3. A minor city in Montgomery County, Kansas, United States.
nounHavana (plural Havanas)

plural Havanas

  1. A type of large cigar produced in Cuba.

    Having indicated an arm-chair to me and placed my refreshment near it, he handed me a long, smooth Havana.

    1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  2. Proto-Italic*olnos
  3. Old Latinolle
  4. Latinille
  5. Latinilla
  6. Spanishla
  7. Taínosabana
  8. TaínoHabaguanex
  9. SpanishLa Habana
  10. EnglishHavana

From Spanish La Habana, from Habaguanex, the native American chief (cacique) who controlled the area, the name derived from Taíno sabana (“savannah”). The letter h may be an anthroponymic inflection.

More words from Spanish, Taíno

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic هَافَانَا
  • هَافَانَا (hāfānā)capital city of Cuba
Bengali হাভানা
  • হাভানা (habhana)capital city of Cuba
Bulgarian Хава́на
  • Хава́на (Havána)capital city of Cuba
Catalan L'Havana
  • L'Havanacapital city of Cuba
Chinese Mandarin 哈瓦那, 哈瓦那雪茄
  • 哈瓦那 (Hāwǎnà)capital city of Cuba
  • 哈瓦那雪茄 (Hāwǎnà xuějiā)cigar
Czech Havana
  • Havanacapital city of Cuba
Danish Havana
  • Havanacapital city of Cuba
Esperanto Havano
  • Havanocapital city of Cuba
Finnish Havanna, havannalainen
  • Havannacapital city of Cuba
  • havannalainencigar
  • havannasikaricigar
French La Havane
  • La Havanecapital city of Cuba
German Havanna
  • Havannacapital city of Cuba
Greek Αβάνα, πούρα Αβάνας
  • Αβάνα (Avána)capital city of Cuba
  • πούρα Αβάνας (poúra Avánas)cigar
Hebrew הוואנה
  • הוואנהcapital city of Cuba
Hindi हवाना
  • हवाना (havānā)capital city of Cuba
Hungarian Havanna
  • Havannacapital city of Cuba
Indonesian havana
  • havanacigar
Italian L'Avana, L'Havana
  • L'Avanacapital city of Cuba
  • L'Havanacapital city of Cuba
  • avanacigar
Japanese ハバナ
  • ハバナ (Habana)capital city of Cuba
Korean 아바나, 라 아바나
  • 아바나capital city of Cuba
  • 라 아바나capital city of Cuba
Latin Avana
  • Avanacapital city of Cuba
Lithuanian Havana
  • Havanacapital city of Cuba
Persian هاوانا
  • هاوانا (hâvânâ)capital city of Cuba
Polish Hawana
  • Hawanacapital city of Cuba
Portuguese Havana, havana
  • Havanacapital city of Cuba
  • havanacigar
Russian Гава́на
  • Гава́на (Gavána)capital city of Cuba
Spanish La Habana, habano
  • La Habanacapital city of Cuba
  • habanocigar
Swedish Havanna
  • Havannacapital city of Cuba
Thai ฮาวานา
  • ฮาวานา (haa-waa-nâa)capital city of Cuba
Turkish Havana
  • Havanacapital city of Cuba
Ukrainian Гава́на
  • Гава́на (Havána)capital city of Cuba
Urdu ہوانا
  • ہوانا (havānā)capital city of Cuba
Vietnamese La Ha-ba-na, Ha-va-na
  • La Ha-ba-nacapital city of Cuba
  • Ha-va-nacapital city of Cuba

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Havana

IndianaLouisianaannaghanaDianasavannahanaHannahjoannasavannananaSusannaSusquehannaFermanaghBriannacannacabanabandanamannakatakanahiraganahosannapollyannagoanna
All rhymes →

Anagrams

vahana
Cite this entry
APA

Havana. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Havana

MLA

“Havana.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Havana. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Havana,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Havana.

Source: Havana on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.