gafa

See also: gafá, gáfa, gafă, and Gafà

Catalan

Etymology

Deverbal from gafar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ˈɡa.fə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈɡa.fa]

Noun

gafa f (plural gafes)

1. (nautical) boathook, pike pole

   Synonym: botador

2. gaff, grapple
3. fastener, hook
4. clothespin

   Synonyms: agulla d'estendre, agafanàs

5. (construction) frame cramp
6. (surgery) staple

Related terms

• gafet

Further reading

• “gafa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Galician

Verb

gafa

1. inflection of gafar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Gullah

Alternative forms

• gafuh

Etymology

From Mende (Sierra Leone) ŋgafa (“soul, spirit, idol”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡa.fa/

Noun

gafa

1. evil spirit
2. devil

References

• Lorenzo Dow Turner, Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect (1969)

Irish

Alternative forms

• gabhtha (superseded)
• gaibhte (Ulster)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡafˠə/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɔfˠiː/ (as if spelled gofaí)

Participle

gafa

1. past participle of gabh

Adjective

gafa

1. (chiefly in the negative, with the conditional of bí (“to be”)) arsed, bothered (showing enthusiasm)

   Ní bheinn gafa.

   I can't be bothered/arsed.

Derived terms

• An Leabhar Gafa (“The Book of [Irish-speaking Irish Republican Prisoners who were] Captured”, literally “The Book of [those] Taken”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of gafa

radical	lenition	eclipsis
gafa	ghafa	ngafa

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Spanish

Adjective

gafa

1. feminine singular of gafo

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French gaffe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.fa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -afa
• Syllabification: ga‧fa

Noun

gafa f

1. blunder, faux pas

   Synonyms: faux pas, nietakt, wtopa, wpadka

Declension

Declension of gafa

	singular	plural
nominative	gafa	gafy
genitive	gafy	gaf
dative	gafie	gafom
accusative	gafę	gafy
instrumental	gafą	gafami
locative	gafie	gafach
vocative	gafo	gafy

Further reading

• “gafa”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “gafa”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Romagnol

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡa.fa/

Adjective

gafa f

1. feminine of gaf

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French gaffer.

Verb

a gafa (third-person singular present gafează, past participle gafat) 1st conjugation

1. to make a gaffe, to mess up

Conjugation

    conjugation of gafa (first conjugation, -ez- infix)

infinitive			a gafa
gerund			gafând
past participle			gafat
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	gafez	gafezi	gafează	gafăm	gafați	gafează
	imperfect	gafam	gafai	gafa	gafam	gafați	gafau
	simple perfect	gafai	gafași	gafă	gafarăm	gafarăți	gafară
	pluperfect	gafasem	gafaseși	gafase	gafaserăm	gafaserăți	gafaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să gafez	să gafezi	să gafeze	să gafăm	să gafați	să gafeze
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		gafează			gafați
	negative		nu gafa			nu gafați

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡafa/ [ˈɡa.fa]
• Rhymes: -afa
• Syllabification: ga‧fa

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Catalan gafa and this from gafar (“take, grab”).

Noun

gafa f (plural gafas)

1. grapple

   Synonym: arpeo

2. clamp

   Synonyms: mordaza, sargento, pinza

3. (chiefly in the plural, chiefly Spain, Colombia, Dominican Republic) glasses, (formal) spectacles, (US) eyeglass

   Synonyms: (Latin America) lentes, (Latin America) anteojos, (Cuba, Puerto Rico) espejuelos

Etymology 2

Verb

gafa

1. inflection of gafar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “gafa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “gafa”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “gafa”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.ɸa/

Noun

gafa

1. a crab

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[3], Pacific linguistics