Meanings
proa1
plural proas · alternative parao · alternative perahu · alternative prahu · alternative prau · alternative prow
- A sailing vessel found in the waters of Micronesia and Indonesia; it has a single, large outrigger and a triangular sail.
Malay ‘prahu’ or proa were said to be more than a match for British vessels.
2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 2311 more example
1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter XXII, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600641.txt I noticed that on the sea were numerous fantastically shaped canoes—or rather boats—like Malay proas, or the canoes used by many of the South Sea islanders.
Proa2
Origin
proa · noun
- Dutchprauw
- Portugueseparão
- Malayperau
- Englishproa
From Malay perau, a variant of perahu. In some forms via Portuguese parão or Dutch prauw; in some forms assimilated to prow.
More words from Malay, Portuguese, Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Proa · proper noun
- PortuguesePrôa
- GalicianProa
- EnglishProa
Borrowed from Galician Proa and Portuguese Prôa; this surname is predominantly found in Mexico.
More words from Galician, Portuguese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch prauw
- prauwsailing vessel
French prao
- praosailing vessel
Malay perahu
- perahusailing vessel
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with proa
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
proa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proa
“proa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proa. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “proa,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/proa.
Source: proa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.