Meanings
tra1
- Synonym of iridescent shark (“a shark catfish of species Pangasianodon hypophthalmus”).
Synonyms: iridescent shark
tra2
- A meaningless syllable used when singing a tune.
TRA3
- abbreviationinitialismTanzaniaInitialism of Tanzania Revenue Authority.
plural TRAs
- abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of transracial adoption.
However, racial identity is one surprising area of silence in many of the studies of TRA.
2006, Douglas B. Henderson, “Why Has the Mental Health Community Been Silent on Adoption Issues?”, in Rafael A. Javier, Amanda L. Baden, Frank A. Biafora, Alina Camacho-Gingerich, editors, Handbook of Adoption: Implications for Researchers, Practitioners, and Families, unnumbered page2 more examples
This narrow popular image of TRA as a white-black phenomenon is striking given that adoptions of black children by white parents account for only a small percentage of TRAs and an even smaller percentage of all U.S. domestic adoptions.
2002, Hawley Fogg-Davis, The Ethics of Transracial Adoption, page 3There are three reasons why domestic TRAs (involving mostly African American and Native American children) are very different from ICAs: […]
2004, Vincent John Cheng, Inauthentic: The Anxiety Over Culture and Identity, page 71 - abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of transracial adoptee.
Sixty percent of the TRAs and 77 percent of the birth children lived in neighborhoods that were mostly white.
2000, Rita James Simon, Howard Altstein, Adoption Across Borders: Serving the Children in Transracial and Intercountry Adoptions, page 652 more examples
We asked the TRAs a series of questions about their relationship to family members during adolescence, many of which focused on racial differences.
1992, William Laufer, Adoption, Race, and Identity: From Infancy to Young Adulthood, page 215Practitioners working with TRAs need to be aware of the larger sociocultural context of their clients, particularly in regard to racism.
2020, Danielle Godon-Decoteau, Patricia Ramsey, “Transracial Adoptees: The rewards and challenges of searching for their birth families”, in Elisha Marr, Emily Helder, Gretchen Miller Wrobel, editors, The Routledge Handbook of Adoption, unnumbered page - UKabbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of tenants and residents association.
Just Space also provided support to Tower Hamlets Tenants Federation (THTF) to deliver a programme of events on community planning aimed at Tenants and Residents Associations (TRAs) in the borough.
2014, Robin Brown, Michael Edwards, Richard Lee, “Just Space: towards a just, sustainable London”, in Rob Imree, Loretta Lees, editors, Sustainable London: The Future of a Global City, unnumbered page2 more examples
One PFI scheme was developed in an area where formal representative structures (tenant and resident associations (TRAs), tenant liaison committees (TLCs) and community forum) had failed to adapt to the growing ethnic diversity of the area.
2010, Hal Pawson, David Mullins, After Council Housing: Britain's New Social Landlords, page 237Brandon berated the lack of 'community cohesion' in the Five Estates, yet went to great length to explain how different community groups and TRAs (Tenants and Residents Associations) could not find agreement with one another.
2017, Luna Glucksberg, “'The Blue Bit, That Was My Bedroom': Rubble, Displacement and Regeneration in Inner-City London”, in Paul Watt, Peer Smets, editors, Social Housing and Urban Renewal: A Cross-National Perspective, unnumbered page - abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of twins reared apart.
- abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of trans rights activist.
Attempts to compel ordinary people to use the “preferred pronouns” of TRAs will backfire as this is coercion.
2018, Una-Jane Winfield, written evidence submitted to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 consultation in the United Kingdom in 2018, page 22 more examples
Of the gender ideology that Stonewall and TRAs are flogging, as opposed to a person having dysphoria, loathing their genitalia & body, and feeling they are in need of medical interventions.
2020, anonymous, quoted in Christina T. Lu, "A computational approach to analyzing and detecting trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) on Twitter", thesis submitted to Dartmouth College, page 43People use that acronym [TERF] all the time as though it isn’t offensive, and it really is offensive…and it just shows how successful the TRAs have been in framing themselves as victims and the rest of us are witches.
2021, anonymous, Shonagh Dillon, "#TERF/Bigot/Transphobe – We found the witch, burn her!: A contextual constructionist account of the silencing of feminist discourse on the proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 …", thesis submitted to the University of Portsmouth, page 406 - abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablebusinessInitialism of tax receivable agreement.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of iridescent shark (“a shark catfish of species Pangasianodon hypophthalmus”).
Origin
tra · noun
- Khmerប្រា“certain Pangasius species”
- Vietnamese(cá) tra
- Englishtra
From Vietnamese (cá) tra, from Khmer ប្រា (praa, “certain Pangasius species”).
More words from Vietnamese, Khmer
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tra. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tra
“tra.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tra. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tra,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tra.
Source: tra on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.