hola
Meaning
hello, hi
Frequency
Hyphenated as
ho‧la
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈola/
Etymology
Probably from French holà (“hey! stop!”). This is related to greetings in Germanic cognates such as Dutch hola, Old High German holā, emphatic imperative of Old High German holōn (“to fetch, used especially in hailing a ferryman”) The Diccionario de la lengua española compares the Germanic expressions English hello and German hallo. Also compared is Arabic وَٱللّٰه (wal-lāh, “really?, by God!”), but support for this is lacking.
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