baa
[bɑː][bæ]
baa noun: the characteristic cry or bleating of a sheep or (broader) a sheep or goat.
Noun (1)
baa (plural baas)
Interjection
- The characteristic cry of a sheep or (broader) a sheep or goat.
Verb
baa (third-person singular simple present baas, present participle baaing, simple past and past participle baaed)
- To make the characteristic cry of a sheep or (broader) a sheep or goat.
- Near-synonyms: blat, bleat (broad enough to include calves too)
- He treble baas for help, but none can get.a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
Noun (2)
IPA/bɑː/
baa (plural baas)
- The letter ب in the Arabic script.
Proper noun (1) capitalized: BAA
BAA
- Initialism of Broad Agency Announcement.
- Initialism of Business Associate Agreement: under HIPAA, a contract to protect personal health information.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Baa
Baa
- An administrative atoll of the Maldives, officially named Maalhosmadulu Dhekunuburi.
baa meaning in Arabic and Vietnamese
baa in Arabic
- bleating of sheep
- مَأْمَأَة maʔmaʔa
baa in Vietnamese
- bleating of sheep
- be be
Synonyms of baa
Forms of baa
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | baas |
| alternative form (obsolete) | bah |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | baas |
| present participle | baaing |
| past participle | baaed |
| past | baaed |
Origin of baa
Compare German bäh, mäh; an imitative word. Notes on phonological development The pronunciation /bɑː/ is perhaps a development from earlier /bæː/ reflecting the shift of /æː/ to /ɑː/ during the 18th and 19th centuries. Compare Early Modern English bae, bea, both "to baa", respectively displaying the then current pronunciation of Middle English /aː/ as /æː/ and the failure of Middle English /ɛː/ to raise, and the replacement of mew with meow for another instance where recent sound change has made onomatopoeia opaque.
Borrowed from Arabic بَاء (bāʔ).
Words formed from baa
Phrases with baa
Words that rhyme with baa
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- Moskva
- Nansha
- rah
- shikar
- ah
- aha
- alhamdulillah
- Amapá
- Benoit
- Bogotá
- fa
- galah
- goombah
- huzzah
- inshallah
- Jah
- la
- lah-di-dah
- ma
- moire
- mudra
- ménage à trois
- na
- omertà
- ooh la la
- pa
- schwa
- shah
- Shangri-La
- sis boom bah
- ta
- wah
- Xisha
- 'za
- allah
- ar
- arthra
- Aymara
- bah
- Bogota
- boyar
- bra
- cha
- cha cha cha
- chamar
- che sara sara
- chicken paw
- da
Questions about baa
- What does baa mean?
- Baa means the characteristic cry or bleating of a sheep or (broader) a sheep or goat.
- What is baa in Arabic?
- Baa in Arabic is مَأْمَأَة (maʔmaʔa). See Baa meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is baa?
- Baa can be a noun, an interjection, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce baa?
- Baa is pronounced [bɑː] (UK).
- What is the plural of baa?
- The plural of baa is baas.
Words near baa in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: baa (page history and authors); BAA (page history and authors); Baa (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-baa.ogg, en-us-baa.ogg.
Cite this entry: “baa.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/baa. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.