arroba

See also: arrobá

English

Etymology

From Spanish and Portuguese arroba, from Old Spanish arroua and Old Galician-Portuguese arrova, from Andalusian Arabic and Arabic اَلرُّبْع (ar-rubʕ, “one-fourth”) in reference to its making up one fourth of a quintal.

Noun

arroba (plural arrobas)

1. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of mass, varying by time, location, and substance but generally around 11.5 kilograms.
2. (historical) A traditional Portuguese unit of mass, usually equivalent to 14.7 kilograms.
3. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of liquid measure, varying by time, location, and substance but generally around 15 liters.

Coordinate terms

• (Spanish unit): libra (¹⁄₂₅ arroba), quintal (4 arrobas), tonelada (80 arrobas)
• (Portuguese unit): arratel (¹⁄₃₂ arroba), quintalejo (2 arrobas), quintal (4 arrobas), tonelada (54 arrobas)

Translations

traditional Spanish and Portuguese unit of mass

• Portuguese: arroba (pt) f
• Russian: арро́ба (ru) f (arróba)
• Spanish: arroba (es) f

References

• “arroba”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese arroba and arrova, from Andalusian Arabic and Arabic اَلرُّبْع (ar-rubʕ, “fourth”) in reference to its making up one-fourth of a quintal. Cognate with Galician and Spanish arroba, Catalan arrova, and Maltese raba’.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈʁo.bɐ/ [aˈho.bɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈʁo.bɐ/ [aˈho.bɐ]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /aˈʁo.bɐ/ [aˈχo.bɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈʁo.ba/ [aˈho.ba]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈʁo.bɐ/ [ɐˈʁo.βɐ]

• Hyphenation: ar‧ro‧ba

Noun

arroba f (plural arrobas)

1. (historical) arroba, a traditional unit of mass, equivalent to 14.7 kg
2. (typography) at, the name of the symbol @

Coordinate terms

• (unit of mass): arrátel (¹⁄₃₂ arroba), quintalejo (2 arrobas), quintal (4 arrobas), tonelada (54 arrobas)

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈroba/ [aˈro.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -oba
• Syllabification: a‧rro‧ba

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish arroua, from Arabic اَلرُّبْع (ar-rubʕ, “one-fourth”), in reference to its forming one fourth of a quintal.

Noun

arroba f (plural arrobas)

1. (historical) arroba (a traditional unit of mass generally equivalent to about 11.5 kg)
   • 1880, José Zorrilla, Recuerdos del tiempo viejo:

     volcaba él solo una caldera de doce arrobas de plomo fundido

     He turned over a twelve-arroba cauldron of molten lead by himself

2. (typography) at (the symbol @)

Usage notes

• The arroba is still used in some contexts within Spain and across Latin America, sometimes varying by region and application. The Aragonese arroba is about 16.3 kg and in Valencia it is about 13 kg for measuring oranges but 16.1 L for measuring wine.

Coordinate terms

• (unit of mass): libra (¹⁄₂₅ arroba), quintal (4 arrobas), tonelada (80 arrobas)

Descendants

• → English: arroba
• → French: arobase

Etymology 2

Verb

arroba

1. inflection of arrobar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “arroba”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10