Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

calabash

/ˈkæləˌbæʃ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.27 in modern English

Syllables
ca-la-bash
IPA
/ˈkæləˌbæʃ/
15
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The bottle gourd (calabash vine, Lagenaria siceraria), believed to have originated in Africa, which is grown for its fruit that are used as a vegetable and to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this plant.

noun

A container made from the mature, dried shell of the fruit of one of the above plants; also, a similarly shaped container made from some other material.

noun

A calabash and its contents; as much as fills such a container.

noun

A musical instrument, most commonly a drum or rattle, made from a calabash fruit.

noun

The head.

American usage; Archaic; Humorous; Slang

Example Sentences

Etymology

From French calebasse, from Spanish calabaza (“gourd; pumpkin”), possibly from Arabic قَرْعَةٌ يَابِسَةٌ (qarʕatun yābisatun, “dry gourd”) or directly from its etymon Persian خربزه (xarboze, “melon”), possibly ultimately from Sanskrit त्रपुस (trapusa, “colocynth fruit”) (compare Persian تربزه (tarboze, “watermelon”)). The English word is cognate with Catalan carabassa (“pumpkin; orange colour”), Galician cabaza (“gourd, pumpkin, squash; calabash (container)”), Occitan calebasso, carabasso, carbasso, Portuguese cabaça (“gourd; calabash (container)”), Sicilian caravazza (and caramazza).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: calebasse, calabaza, قَرْعَةٌ يَابِسَةٌ, خربزه, त्रपुस

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈkæləˌbæʃ/
  • British English: /ˈkaləbaʃ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Phrases

Synonyms

Questions

How do you pronounce calabash?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkæləˌbæʃ/.
What does calabash mean?
A tree (known as the calabash tree; Crescentia cujete) native to Central and South America, the West Indies, and southern Florida, bearing large, round fruit used to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this tree.
Where does calabash come from?
It is traced to French.

How to pronounce calabash

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “calabash”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkæləˌbæʃ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “calabash”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “calabash” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.