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

Inflected Forms

noun

• varas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vara

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

Example Sentences

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

From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2021

Come here,—ye canna do too much honor to a young leddy who has such a vara profound esteem for hersel'!

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

The greatest difficulty is met with in cases in which the disease occurs as mon-articular affection in adolescents, for the resemblance to tuberculous disease of the hip and to coxa vara may be close.

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

They wear clothes of very white cotton, of which they make shirts, breeches, and certain mantles a vara and a half square which they call tilmas or hayantes.

From History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Hard University. Vol. VII. by Means, Philip Ainsworth

"That 's vara true, miss," was the dry response.

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