balaclava
/ˌbæl.əˈklɑːvə/UK/ˌbæl.əˈklɑː.və/
balaclava noun: a type of warm headgear covering the neck, head, and often part of the face, with apertures left as necessary, often made out of wool.
Noun
balaclava (plural balaclavas)
- A type of warm headgear covering the neck, head, and often part of the face, with apertures left as necessary, often made out of wool.
- A ski mask with holes for the eyes and, sometimes, the nose and mouth, which may be rolled up and worn like a toque or pulled over the face for greater protection.
- George Ronald Waite, 33, known as Balaclava Bill because of the dark blue woollen hood he wore while robbing seven banks of $46,200 over the past two years, was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in Kingston Penitentiary.1969 January 10, “Robbed seven banks, Balaclava Bill given 15-year term in jail”, in Globe and Mail, Toronto, page 1
Proper noun capitalized: Balaclava
Balaclava
- A town in St. Elizabeth parish, Jamaica.
- A locality in the Wingecarribee council area, south eastern New South Wales, Australia.
- A suburb of the City of Port Phillip, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Alternative spelling of Balaklava
balaclava meaning in Arabic and Thai
balaclava in Arabic
- headgear
- نَسِيج صُوفِيّ nasīj ṣūfiyy, بَالَاكْلَافَا bālāklāfā
balaclava in Thai
- headgear
- โม่ง môong, ไอ้โม่ง
Forms of balaclava
| plural | balaclavas |
|---|
Origin of balaclava
From the city of Balaklava in Crimea, from Ottoman Turkish بالقلاوه (modern Turkish balıklava), alteration of بالقلاغه (balıklaga, “fishing ground”). During the Crimean War the British troops suffered from cold due to improper clothing. When the news spread in the home front after the Battle of Balaclava in 1854, the people began knitting warm clothing for the soldiers, including woollen caps to be worn under the helmet, which were named balaclavas by the troops.
From Balaklava, from Russian Балакла́ва (Balakláva), from Ottoman Turkish بالقلاوه (balıklava), from بالقلاغه (balıklaga, “fishing ground”) * (Jamaica): From Balaklava or the Battle of Balaclava.
Words formed from balaclava
Phrases with balaclava
Words that rhyme with balaclava
Questions about balaclava
- What does balaclava mean?
- Balaclava means a type of warm headgear covering the neck, head, and often part of the face, with apertures left as necessary, often made out of wool.
- What is balaclava in Arabic?
- Balaclava in Arabic is نَسِيج صُوفِيّ (nasīj ṣūfiyy), بَالَاكْلَافَا (bālāklāfā). See Balaclava meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is balaclava?
- Balaclava can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce balaclava?
- Balaclava is pronounced /ˌbæl.əˈklɑː.və/ (UK).
- What is the plural of balaclava?
- The plural of balaclava is balaclavas.
Words near balaclava in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: balaclava (page history and authors); Balaclava (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-balaclava.ogg.
Cite this entry: “balaclava.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/balaclava. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.