pula

P3U1L1A1
UK/pʊlə/US/puːlɑː/

noun

Rain, used as an expression of greeting or good luck.

OriginTswana pula ← Northern Sotho pula ← Sotho pula →
Less commonScrabble 6
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Meanings

pula1

nounpula (countable and uncountable, plural pulas)

plural pulas

  1. Southern AfricauncountableRain, used as an expression of greeting or good luck.

    Given under my hand and the Public Seal at Gaborone this 31st day of March, 2020. / PULA!

    2020 March 31, Government of Botswana, “State of Public Emergency — S.I. No. 59 of 2020”, in Republic of Botswana Government Gazette Extraordinary, page C213
  2. countableThe currency of Botswana, divided into 100 thebe.

Pula2

proper noun
  1. The largest city in Istria County, Croatia.

Pula3

proper nounPula (plural Pulas)

plural Pulas

  1. A surname.

Origin

pula · noun

  1. alv-pro*-buda“rain, rain cloud”
  2. Proto-Bantu*mbúdà“rain”
  3. Sothopula“rain”
  4. Northern Sothopula
  5. Tswanapula
  6. Englishpula

Borrowed from Tswana pula, Northern Sotho pula, and Sotho pula (“rain”), all from Proto-Bantu *mbúdà (“rain”), from Proto-Atlantic-Congo *-buda (“rain, rain cloud”)

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Pula · proper noun

  1. Serbo-CroatianPula
  2. Serbo-CroatianPula
  3. EnglishPula

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian Pula.

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Pula · proper noun

  1. Teluguపులా
  2. ItalianPula
  3. PolishPula
  4. EnglishPula

Various origins: * Borrowed from Polish Pula, perhaps a nickname from pula (“shirttail, coattail”) or from pola (“tasteless soup”). * Borrowed from Italian Pula, a variant of Pola. * Borrowed from Telugu పులా (pulā). This surname is predominantly found in Andhra Pradesh.

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Translations

Bulgarian Пу́ла
  • Пу́ла (Púla)city
Chinese Mandarin 普拉
  • 普拉city
French Pula
  • Pulacity
Hindi पूला
  • पूला (pūlā)city
Hungarian Póla
  • Pólacity
Italian Pola
  • Polacity

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

puller (UK, non-rhotic)

Anagrams

paulPalulaup
Cite this entry
APA

pula. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pula

MLA

“pula.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pula. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pula,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pula.

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