tra

T1R1A1

noun

Synonym of iridescent shark (“a shark catfish of species Pangasianodon hypophthalmus”).

Less commonScrabble 3

Meanings

tra1

nountra (plural tra)

tra2

interjection
  1. A meaningless syllable used when singing a tune.

TRA3

proper noun
  1. abbreviationinitialismTanzaniaInitialism of Tanzania Revenue Authority.
nounTRA (countable and uncountable, plural TRAs)

plural TRAs

  1. 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 page
    2 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 3

    There 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
  2. 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 65
    2 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 215

    Practitioners 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
  3. 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 page
    2 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 237

    Brandon 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
  4. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of twins reared apart.
  5. 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 2
    2 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 43

    People 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
  6. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablebusinessInitialism of tax receivable agreement.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of iridescent shark (“a shark catfish of species Pangasianodon hypophthalmus”).

Origin

tra · noun

  1. Khmerប្រា“certain Pangasius species”
  2. Vietnamese(cá) tra
  3. Englishtra

From Vietnamese (cá) tra, from Khmer ប្រា (praa, “certain Pangasius species”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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