Learn Romanian › babă
babă
old woman /ˈba.bə/
noun#5038 most common
Also: hag, crone, granny (rural/folk)
Example sentences
Baba are o pisică.
The old woman has a cat.
În sat locuiește o babă bătrână.
An old woman lives in the village.
Copiii ascultau poveștile babei cu mare atenție.
The children listened to the old woman's stories very attentively.
Baba Dochia este un personaj din folclorul românesc legat de sosirea primăverii.
Baba Dochia is a figure from Romanian folklore tied to the arrival of spring.
În sat, doar câteva babe mai știau leacurile vechi de-o viață.
In the village, only a few old women still knew the age-old remedies.
Deși unii o credeau doar o babă superstițioasă, prezicerile ei despre vreme s-au dovedit, de-a lungul anilor, surprinzător de exacte.
Although some considered her just a superstitious old woman, her weather predictions turned out, over the years, to be surprisingly accurate.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | babă | babe |
| Genitive | babei | babelor |
| Accusative | babă | babe |
| Vocative | babo | babelor |
Word family
băbuțălittle old woman, granny (affectionate)
băbescof or like old women; folk, old-wives'
băbeștein the manner of old women, superstitiously
babornițăhag, ugly old woman (pejorative)
Etymology
Babă entered Romanian from Slavic baba, a word for an old woman or grandmother found across the Slavic languages. It reached Romanian through centuries of contact with neighboring Slavic-speaking populations. The core sense, old woman, stayed intact, but the word picked up a range of tones, from affectionate to dismissive, depending on how it is used.
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