cola

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkəʊ.lə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊlə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊlə

From a Niger-Congo language, compare Temne kola, Mandinka kola. The beverage "Coca-Cola" was what made the term widely known, and popularized the spelling with c instead of k.

• (the plant or nut): kola

cola (countable and uncountable, plural colas)

1. The kola plant, genus Cola, famous for its nut, or one of these nuts.
2. A beverage or a drink made with kola nut flavoring, caramel and carbonated water.

• → Korean: 콜라 (kolla)
• → Mandarin: 可樂 / 可乐 (kělè)
  • → Chinese: 可樂 / 可乐 (kělè)
• → Vietnamese: cô-la
• → Japanese: コーラ
  • → Hakka: 可樂 / 可乐 (khó-là)
  • → Hokkien: 可樂 / 可乐 (khò͘-lah)

• Cola on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Cola (plant) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Kola nut on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

See colon.

cola

1. (dated) plural of colon
   • 2008, Alexandre Allauzen, Review of “Mathematical Linguistics” by Andras Kornai‎^[1]:

     In this part, the author presents a prosodic hierarchy describing syllables, moras, feet, cola and a typology for words and stress.

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish cola (“tail”), from Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda, or from its diminutive caudula. Doublet of queue and coda.

cola (plural colas)

1. A cluster of buds on a cannabis plant.

• ALCO, Acol, Calo, Caló, Coal., LCAO, LOAC, LOCA, alco, alco-, coal, loca

cola

1. yes.

From a contraction of the preposition con (“with”) + feminine singular article la (“the”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkola/ [ˈko.la]
• Rhymes: -ola
• Syllabification: co‧la

cola f (masculine col, neuter colo, masculine plural colos, feminine plural coles)

1. with the

• Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “cola”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “cola”, 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 Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”). Compare French colle, Portuguese and Spanish cola, Italian colla.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkɔ.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈko.la]

cola f (plural coles)

1. glue

Borrowed from English cola, in turn from an undetermined Niger-Congo language, compare Temne kola, Mandinka kola.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkɔ.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈko.la]

cola f (plural coles)

1. cola

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkɔ.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkɔ.la]

cola

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

Borrowed from English cola, from the fizzy drink Coca-Cola; the second part was named after the kola nuts that are used as an ingredient.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoː.laː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: co‧la
• Rhymes: -oːlaː

cola m (plural cola's, diminutive colaatje n)

1. cola (drink)
2. superseded spelling of kola

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈðola/

cola (transitive form colata) (intransitive)

1. (of humans) to carry, to transport, to lift (on the shoulders)

   Era cola dalo ki vale.

   They are carrying taro home [on their shoulders].

2. (of animals, but especially dogs) to carry, to hold (in the mouth)

   Na koli e cola na sui.

   The dog is carrying the bone in its mouth.

3. (figuratively) to carry, to bear, to shoulder (a responsibility or burden)

   E dodonu me da cola vata na itavi oqo.

   We should bear this responsibility together.

• Gatty, Ronald (2009), “cola”, in Fijian–English Dictionary‎^[2], Suva, Fiji: Ronald Gatty, →ISBN, page 51

• IPA^(key): /ˈkolɑ/, [ˈko̞lɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -olɑ
• Syllabification^(key): co‧la
• Hyphenation^(key): co‧la

cola

1. alternative form of kola (“cola”)

• “cola”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

cola m (plural colas)

1. cola (drink)

• “cola”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

From Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”). Compare Spanish cola, French colle, Italian colla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔla̝/

cola f (plural colas)

1. glue
   • 1433, A. López Ferreiro, editor, Fueros municipales de Santiago y de su tierra, Madrid: Ediciones Castilla, page 493:

     yten hordenamos e por ben temos que ningún, nen alguos oficiaas que labrar contas ou fezer labrar ou vender de azabache, que non seja ousado de soldar, nen juntar peça nenhua, conben a saver, ymagen de santiago, nen crucifixo, nen conchas, nen contas, nen sortellas, nen outra pesa nenhua que seja quebrada con betume, nen con cola, nen con solda, nen quon outra cousa

     item, we order and pleases us that no one, neither some officials who carve beans or order to carve or sell jet, should dare to solder not joint any piece, that is: neither image of Saint James, nor crucifix, nor shells, nor beans, nor rings, nor any other broken thing, with bitumen, nor glue, nor solder, nor with any other thing

2. adhesive

From Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda. Doublet of cúa.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔla̝/

cola f (plural colas)

1. tail

   Synonym: rabo

   • c. 1300, R. Martínez López, editor, General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV, Oviedo: Archivum, page 134:

     desla çintura arriba cõmo fegura de omẽ, et dende ajuso cõmo de peyxe cõ escamas et sua cola

     from the waist upwards as the figure of a man, and from them down as that of a fish, with scales and its tail

2. train (elongated back portion of a dress)
   • c. 1885, Jenaro Mariñas, A Moda:

     Pois señor, eu paso pola calle e vou de présa: tripo unha cola dunha señorita; eu caio, ela cai; o pai que vai con ela, dáme de paus co bastón; un meu compañeiro, que tampouco pode ver esas modas, sai na miña defensa; eu levántome e axúdolle; a nena dá gritos; os serenos acoden; nós non lle facemos caso; a xente vén correndo a ve-lo que pasa, repítese entre ela o que a min xa me pasou; caien uns enriba doutros, e hai confusión, e aies, e berros, e paresce que toda aquela calle está chea de demos que andan arrincando as lousas pra irse pró inferno. Resultado: un escadrón de caballería sai a despexar a calle, e nos vamos direitos á prevención.

     "Well, then I'm walking down the street in a hurry: I trip on a young lady's train; I fall, she falls; her father, which is by her side, strikes me some blows with his canes; a companion of mine, who also can't stand these fashions, comes to defend me; I stand up and help him; the girl shouts; the guards come; we don't acknowledge them; people come at the run to see what's going on, and it happens to them what has happened to me; they fall ones on top of the others, and there is confusion and laments and shouts, and it seems that the street is full with demons who are pulling out the flagstones to get to hell. Result: a cavalry squadron comes to clear the street, and we go direct to jail."

3. queue

   Synonym: fila

Ultimately from a Niger-Congo language, or from Sudanese.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔla̝/

cola f (plural colas)

1. (botany) kola

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “cola”, 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), “cola”, 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), “cola”, 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), “cola”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cola”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

• IPA^(key): /ˈko.la/
• Rhymes: -ola
• Hyphenation: có‧la

cola

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

• calo, calo-, calò, laco, loca

cōlā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of cōlō

• "cola", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

cola

1. genitive plural of col

cola m

1. cloth

• Pali Text Society (1921–1925), “cola”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead
• Maung Tin (1920), The Student's Pali-English Dictionary, Rangoon: British Burma Press.

• kola

Unadapted borrowing from English cola, from a Niger-Congo language. Genericized trademark.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.la/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔla
• Syllabification: co‧la
• Homophone: kola

cola f

1. cola (any kind of soft drink made with kola nut flavoring, caramel, and carbonated water)
2. Coca-Cola drink

   Synonym: coca-cola

• “cola”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlɐ
• Hyphenation: co‧la

Inherited from Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla, “glue”). Compare Spanish cola, French colle, Italian colla.

cola f (plural colas)

1. glue, paste (sticky adhesive substance)
2. adhesive

From Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda. Doublet of cauda, a borrowing.

cola f (plural colas)

1. (dated or dialectal) tail

   Synonyms: cauda, (informal) rabo

2. track, trail (of someone or something to be followed)

   Synonym: rasto

   A polícia está na cola dele. ― The police is on his tail.

3. (Brazil, slang) cheat sheet, a copy of content used to help to complete a school or university test, often illegally

   Synonym: (Portugal) cábula

From a Niger-Congo language, or from Sudanese.

cola f (plural colas)

1. (botany) kola (tree or fruit):

• coleira

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

cola

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

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

Borrowed from French cola.

cola m (plural cola)

1. cola (drink)

• IPA^(key): /ˈkola/ [ˈko.la]
• Rhymes: -ola
• Syllabification: co‧la

Inherited from Vulgar Latin coda, from Latin cauda, or from its diminutive caudula. Cognate to French queue and Italian coda.

cola f (plural colas)

1. (anatomy) tail

   Synonym: rabo

2. line (US), queue (UK)

   Synonym: fila

3. (aviation) empennage, aircraft tail
4. (clothing) train (long back section of a gown)
5. (astronomy) coma (a comet's tail)

   Synonym: coma

6. (computing, informatics) queue
7. (slightly vulgar) ass, the buttocks
8. (slightly vulgar) the penis
9. (Chile, LGBTQ, sometimes pejorative) gayboy, homo

   Synonym: colihue

Inherited from Vulgar Latin colla, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kólla). Cognate to Portuguese cola, Italian colla, French colle.

cola f (plural colas)

1. (adhesive) glue (natural)

   Synonyms: pegamento (synthetic), engrudo

• This kind of glue cola refers to the natural paste kind made from horse hooves or other animal body parts only, not the synthetic kind.

From a Niger-Congo language.

cola f (plural colas)

1. (drink) ellipsis of bebida de cola (“cola”)
2. (nut) kola
3. (tree) kola tree

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

cola

1. inflection of colar (“to canonically confer (an ecclesiastical benefit)”):
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• “cola”, 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
• “cola”, 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

cola

1. cola (drink)

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

-cola^?

1. (transitive) to grind

This verb needs an inflection-table template.