arroba

American  

[uh-roh-buh, ahr-raw-bah] / əˈroʊ bə, ɑrˈrɔ βɑ /

noun

• arrobas
  plural

1. a symbol (@) that is used to link a username to a domain name, used at the beginning of Twitter handles, and in other identifying designations on the internet in Spanish-speaking countries.

2. a Spanish and Portuguese unit of weight of varying value, equal to 25.37 pounds avoirdupois (9.5 kilograms) in Mexico and to 32.38 pounds avoirdupois (12 kilograms) in Brazil.

3. a unit of liquid measure of varying value, used especially in Spain and commonly equal (when used for wine) to 4.26 U.S. gallons (16.1 liters).

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arroba British  

/ əˈrəʊbə /

noun

1. a unit of weight, approximately equal to 11 kilograms, used in some Spanish-speaking countries

2. a unit of weight, approximately equal to 15 kilograms, used in some Portuguese-speaking countries

3. a liquid measure used in some Spanish-speaking countries with different values, but in Spain used as a wine-measure, approximately equal to 16 litres

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• arrobas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of arroba

First recorded in 1550–1560; from Spanish, Portuguese, from Arabic al rubʿ “the fourth part, a quarter (of the qintār), from Common Semitic arbaʿ “four”; see quintal

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

arroba arrobas

The price varies from sixteen to twenty piastres the arroba.

From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 3 by Alexander von Humboldt

After he had collected an arroba of the precious metal, winning a profit of nearly $5,000, the heads of the lightened mules were turned down-trail again.

From Whirligigs by O. Henry

An arroba of 25 Spanish pounds = 11.49 kilogrammes.

From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 3 by Alexander von Humboldt

Pico is equivalent to one quintal, but has one arroba more than ours.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 19 of 55 1620-1621 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century. by James Alexander Robertson

The pearl shells are sent to China, and are worth, at La Paz, one dollar and a half the arroba, or twenty-five pounds.

From What I Saw in California by Edwin Bryant

"They won't weigh twenty-six arrobas," said the critic.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

"About twenty thousand arrobas at present might satisfy him, he says, but he would like more in a week or two!"

From The Firebrand by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

Of this quantity 400,000 arrobas, or 10,000,000 lbs., are consumed in Cuba itself, while the rest is exported partly in the leaf, partly in the manufactured state.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume II (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Karl Ritter von Scherzer

In 1827, the gross produce of Cuba amounted to 23,806 arrobas, and the exports to 19,053.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

Sapan-wood 37,068 14,436 — 18,942 17,337 — 9,015 96,798 arrobas.

From Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines During 1848, 1849 and 1850 by Robert MacMicking