ba

B3A1
UK/bɑː/UK/bɔː/US/bɑ/Singapore[p˭ɑ˨]

noun

A being's soul or personality, represented as a bird-headed figure, which survives after death but must be sustained with offerings of food.

Similar
Bachelor of ArtsArtium BaccalaurensABbariumatomic number 56
CommonScrabble 4

Meanings

ba1

nounba (plural bas)

plural bas

  1. Egyptianhuman sciencesA being's soul or personality, represented as a bird-headed figure, which survives after death but must be sustained with offerings of food.

    But the Ba, I remembered, could be seen as the mistress of your heart and might or might not decide to speak to you, just as the heart cannot always forgive.

    1983, Norman Mailer, Ancient Evenings
    1 more example

    Any ordinary person who has ever floated out of his body during a nap knows what a Ba is, but unfortunately the dogmas of our materialistic culture constrain the person to ignore and repress his experience.

    1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 220

ba2

nounba (plural bas)

plural bas

  1. colloquialsingular normallyFather, baba.

ba3

nounba (uncountable)

alternative ba'

  1. historicalsingular normallyuncountableA medieval football game played in parts of Scotland around Christmas and New Year.

    The townsmen played ba often and clearly knew what they were doing.

    2011, Alistair Moffat, The Borders

ba4

nounba (plural bas)

plural bas

  1. abbreviationsingular normallyAbbreviation of bathroom.

    2 beds, 1 ba

ba5

particle

alternative bah

  1. ManglishSinglishsingular normallyUsed to indicate a tentative suggestion.

    I think you should go see a doctor ba.

  2. ManglishSinglishsingular normallyUsed to indicate confident speculation.

    rich pple in here... 15" Conti for 800? thats a little steep... same class as ps4s? / 18" tires about 600 to 750 bah...

    2024 June 7, Vegas, “Planning to get new Rims & Tyres”, in MyCarForum, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2024

BA6

nounBA (countable and uncountable, plural BAs)

plural BAs · alternative B.A.

  1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of Bachelor of Arts.
  2. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of business analyst.
  3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of breast augmentation.
  4. InternetabbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablesecurityInitialism of Basic Authentication.
  5. abbreviationcountableuncountableAbbreviation of bathroom.
  6. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of bongkrek acid.
  7. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of breathing apparatus.
proper noun

alternative B.A.

  1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of British Airways.
  2. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Buenos Aires: a province of Argentina.
  3. abbreviationinitialismoverprint on British stampsInitialism of British Administration (usually followed by a place name).
  4. abbreviationAbbreviation of Bali: a province of Indonesia.
  5. abbreviationAbbreviation of Bahia: a state of Brazil.
adjectiveBA (comparative more BA, superlative most BA)

comparative more BA · superlative most BA · alternative B.A.

  1. abbreviationeuphemisticinitialismInitialism of badass.

Ba7

proper noun
  1. A province of Fiji. Capital: Lautoka.

Ba8

nounBa (plural Bas)

plural Bas

  1. JapanabbreviationentertainmentAbbreviation of bass guitar (of a rock band)

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna bachelor's degree in arts and sciences

Similar
Bachelor of ArtsArtium BaccalaurensAB

nouna soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group; found in barite

Similar
bariumatomic number 56
Broader
metallic elementmetal

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

ba · noun

  1. Egyptianbꜣ
  2. Englishba

Borrowed from Egyptian bꜣ, G53-Z1

Full word history & related roots →

ba · noun

The sound is very commonly made by infants, and is interpreted by parents as a reference to themselves.

Full word history & related roots →

ba · particle

From Mandarin 吧 (ba).

Full word history & related roots →

Ba · proper noun

  1. FijianBa
  2. FijianBa
  3. EnglishBa

Borrowed from Fijian Ba.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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