vara

American  

[vahr-uh, vah-rah, vah-ruh] / ˈvɑr ə, ˈvɑ rɑ, ˈvɑ rə /

noun

• varas
  plural

1. a unit of length in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries, varying from about 32 inches (81 centimeters) to about 43 inches (109 centimeters).

2. the square vara, used as a unit of area.

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vara British  

/ ˈvɑːrə /

noun

1. a unit of length used in Spain, Portugal, and South America and having different values in different localities, usually between 32 and 43 inches (about 80 to 108 centimetres)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• varas
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of vara

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Spanish, from Latin vāra “forked pole,” noun use of feminine of vārus “crooked, bent”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vara varas

When you put it all together, “en vara asado” sounds a lot like “embarazado.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2021

In a short time the people were instructed in material arts, constructing tribunals, churches, convents, schools, and houses, all of stone walls, one vara thick, to resist typhoons.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 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, Volume XLIII, 1670-1700 by Various

It is not nearly so important in practice as coxa vara.

From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles

He's a vara spirited young man, and when there's a meetin'-house built in the village—" "Enough of this, Henderson.

From The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. I (of II) by Charles James Lever

"But whar is Maister Cashel all this time?" said Sir Andrew; "methinks it wud na be vara polite na to hae his opinion upon a' this, syne he must gie the siller for it."

From Roland Cashel Volume II (of II) by Charles James Lever

It is however, drawn close about the breasts, and the sleeves are very long, at times each sleeve taking three or four varas of cloth.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55 1690-1691 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 Emma Helen Blair

Thirty thousand varas of velvet in colors, at one-half peso, amount to fifteen thousand pesos.

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 village, as I have said already, is divided between the two banks of the river, which is perhaps 30 to 40 varas wide.

From Colonial Expeditions to the Interior of California Central Valley, 1800-1820 Anthropological Records 16(6):239-292, 1958 by Sherburne Friend Cook

Gay makes the height of Lima, at the corner of the church of Espiritu Santo, 172·2 Castilian varas; but most of his heights are incorrectly stated.

From Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests by Thomasina Ross

Unfortunately we had only fifty varas left; but, through the influence of the now good-natured alcalde, we induced the Indians to take the balance in coin.

From The Andes and the Amazon Across the Continent of South America by James Orton

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