Meanings
jaffa1
plural jaffas
- A type of sweet orange, normally seedless.
- slangAn impotent or infertile male.
Jaffa2
plural Jaffas · alternative Joppa · alternative Yafo
- informalA Jaffa orange.
They were together, at the flicks on Saturday night, eating Jaffas and smiling at each other occasionally in the dark.
2005, Barbara Anderson, Collected stories
Origin
jaffa · noun
From Jaffa, an ancient port city in Israel from which the oranges were exported. The sense "impotent male" is a reference to being "seedless"; see seed. The cricketing sense, of a 'sweet ball' (from the bowler's perspective), is a metaphor further reinforced in Australian English where Jaffa is also a trademark for a popular lolly that is red and round.
Full word history & related roots →Jaffa · proper noun, noun
- Biblical Hebrewיָפוֹ (yāfō)
- Arabicيَافَا (yāfā)
- EnglishJaffa
Borrowed from Arabic يَافَا (yāfā), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew יָפוֹ (yāfō).
More words from Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Ἰόππη
- Ἰόππη (Ióppē)a port in western Israel
Arabic يَافَا
- يَافَا (yāfā)a port in western Israel
Basque Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Bengali ইয়াফা
- ইয়াফা (iẏapha)a port in western Israel
Bulgarian Яфо, Яфа
- Яфо (Jafo)a port in western Israel
- Яфа (Jafa)a port in western Israel
Catalan Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Chinese Mandarin 雅法
- 雅法 (Yǎfǎ)a port in western Israel
Czech Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Danish Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Dutch Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Esperanto Jafa
- Jafaa port in western Israel
Estonian Jafo
- Jafoa port in western Israel
Finnish jaffa, tuhkamuna
- jaffatype of sweet orange
- tuhkamunaslang: infertile male
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
French Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
German Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Greek Γιάφφα, Γιάφα
- Γιάφφα (Giáffa)a port in western Israel
- Γιάφα (Giáfa)a port in western Israel
Hebrew יָפוֹ
- יָפוֹ (yáfo)a port in western Israel
Hindi याफ़ा
- याफ़ा (yāfā)a port in western Israel
Hungarian Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Italian Giaffa
- Giaffaa port in western Israel
Japanese ヤッファ
- ヤッファ (Yaffa)a port in western Israel
Korean 야파
- 야파 (Yapa)a port in western Israel
Latin Joppē
- Joppēa port in western Israel
Latvian Jafa
- Jafaa port in western Israel
Lithuanian Jafa
- Jafaa port in western Israel
Māori Hawha
- Hawhaa port in western Israel
Norwegian Bokmål Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Persian یافا
- یافا (yâfâ)a port in western Israel
Polish Jafa
- Jafaa port in western Israel
Portuguese Jafa
- Jafaa port in western Israel
Punjabi ਯਾਫ਼ਾ
- ਯਾਫ਼ਾ (yāfā)a port in western Israel
Romanian Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Russian Я́ффа
- Я́ффа (Jáffa)a port in western Israel
Slovak Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Spanish Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Swedish Jaffa
- Jaffaa port in western Israel
Tamil யாபா
- யாபா (yāpā)a port in western Israel
Turkish Yafa
- Yafaa port in western Israel
Ukrainian Я́ффа
- Я́ффа (Jáffa)a port in western Israel
Urdu یافا
- یافا (yāfā)a port in western Israel
Cite this entry
jaffa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jaffa
“jaffa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jaffa. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jaffa,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jaffa.
Source: jaffa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.