Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

proa

/ˈpɹoʊ.ə/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.62 in modern English

Syllables: proa
IPA: /ˈpɹoʊ.ə/

6

Scrabble Score

4

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A sailing vessel found in the waters of Micronesia and Indonesia; it has a single, large outrigger and a triangular sail.

name

Example Sentences

"1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter XXII, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600641.txt I noticed that on the sea were numerous fantastically shaped canoes—or rather boats—like Malay proas, or the canoes used by many of the South Sea islanders."
"Malay ‘prahu’ or proa were said to be more than a match for British vessels."

Etymology

From Malay perau, a variant of perahu. In some forms via Portuguese parão or Dutch prauw; in some forms assimilated to prow.

Origin

Source language: Portuguese

Word Breakdown

Root: perau, parão, prauw, Proa, Prôa

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈpɹoʊ.ə/
British English: /ˈpɹəʊ.ə/

Inflected Forms

proas (plural) parao (alternative) perahu (alternative) prahu (alternative) prau (alternative) prow (alternative)

Rhymes With

noah noaa boa aloha feather boa quinoa loa poa mauna loa shoah towa maunaloa

Questions

How do you pronounce proa?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɹoʊ.ə/.
What does proa mean?: A sailing vessel found in the waters of Micronesia and Indonesia; it has a single, large outrigger and a triangular sail.
Where does proa come from?: It is traced to Portuguese.

How to pronounce proa

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