borra

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

borra (uncountable)

1. leafy matter found in wax
   • 1950, Robert W. Pressing and Bradley J. Pettibone, US Patent 2531785, page 4:

     […] continuously discharging borra from said zone as a solid, removing the water from said slurry and mechanically recovering solid wax.

• Barro, Brora, arbor

Inherited from Latin burra.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbora/ [ˈbo.ra]
• Rhymes: -ora
• Syllabification: bo‧rra

borra f (plural borres)

1. (uncountable) sediments in liquids (such as cider, coffee)
2. (uncountable, by extension) waste

   Synonyms: refugaya, borrafa

3. (uncountable, by extension) ash

   Synonyms: ceniza, borrayu

4. a young sheep
5. rough wool; flock

• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “borra”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “borra”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Inherited from Latin burra.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈbo.rə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈbo.ra]

borra f (plural borres)

1. fluff, waste fibers

• “borra”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

From Latin burra.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbora/ [ˈbo.rɐ]
• Rhymes: -ora
• Hyphenation: bo‧rra

borra f (plural borras)

1. rough wool; flock (coarse tufts of wool used in bedding)
   • 1348, A. López Ferreiro, editor, Galicia Histórica. Colección diplomática, Santiago: Tipografía Galaica, page 306:

     It. mando a mia cama. en que eu jasco. que som quatro almadraques. dos quaes ssom dous de ffroxel et huun dalgodon et outro de borra et con seu cabeçal et con duas colchas

     Item, I bequeath my bed, the one where I lie, which is made of four mattresses, two of them of down, one of cotton, and another of wool, with its pillow and two quilts [...]

2. sediment, grounds, dreg, tartar
3. ink (of a squid, octopus, etc)
4. ash; soot
5. meconium
6. (figurative) vanity, arrogance, pride

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “borra”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “borra”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “borra”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “borra”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “borra”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

From bor +‎ -ra.

• IPA^(key): [ˈborːɒ]
• Hyphenation: bor‧ra

borra

1. sublative singular of bor

   Nincs pénzünk borra. ― We don't have money for wine.

• borravaló

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

borra m (genitive singular borra, nominative plural borraí)

1. barrow, hog

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “borra”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “hog”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026

From Latin burra.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔr.ra/, (traditional) /ˈbor.ra/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɔrra, (traditional) -orra
• Hyphenation: bòr‧ra, (traditional) bór‧ra

borra f (plural borre)

1. waste
2. cotton

• barro, barrò

Borrowed from Sicilian burra; compare burrasca (“sudden rainfall, storm”). Most probably from Latin boreas (“north wind”), from Ancient Greek Βορέᾱς (Boréās), though compare also Latin burra (“rag, flock”), which might give the sense “snowflake”. In any case, the development from “rain” to “snow” is not unlikely in Malta, where what is considered “snow” is usually sleet, while actual snow is very rare.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔr.ra/
• Rhymes: -ɔrra

borra f

1. snow, sleet

   Synonym: (more common) silġ

Inherited from Latin burra.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /boˈra/

borra f (plural borras)

1. rough wool

• “borra”, in Diccionario del español medieval electrónico [Electronic Dictionary of Medieval Spanish] (in Spanish, English, and German), Rostock University and Paderborn University, 2022–present

From Latin burra.

borra f (plural borras)

1. sediment, grounds (collection of small particles, particularly dirt, that precipitates from a body of water)

   Synonym: sedimento

• borra de café

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

borra

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

• “borra”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “borra”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): /ˈbora/ [ˈbo.ra]
• Rhymes: -ora
• Syllabification: bo‧rra

Inherited from Old Spanish borra, from Latin burra. Cognate with English bureau and burel.

borra f (plural borras)

1. young female sheep
2. rough wool
3. flock (for mattress)
4. stuffing (for cushions)
5. cotton waste
6. (Canary Islands, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia) coffee grounds

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

borra

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

• “borra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “borra”, in Diccionario Básico de Canarismos [Basic Dictionary of Canarianisms] (in Spanish), Canarian Academy of the Language [Spanish: Academia Canaria de La Lengua], 2010
• “borra”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

From Old Swedish bora, from Old Norse bora, from Proto-Germanic *burōną. Equivalent to borr +‎ -a.

borra (present borrar, preterite borrade, supine borrat, imperative borra)

1. (sometimes with upp, putting more emphasis on the result) to drill, to bore (make a hole with a drill or other boring instrument, through twisting and pressure)

   borra (upp) ett hål i en vägg

   drill a hole in a wall

   borra efter olja

   drill for oil

• borrhål
• borrmaskin
• uppborra

• borr
• borrning

• “borra”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “borra”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

• broar