Àlàbá
name
/à.là.bá/
Definitions
- a unisex given name, an orúkọ àmútọ̀runwá given to the second child born after twins, born after a child named Ìdòwú
- a surname, from the given name Àlàbá
Etymology
Possibly from à- (“nominalizing prefix”) + là (“to be wealthy, rich”) + bá (“to meet, to come with, to fit”), literally “That who is wealthy has met the rest of the children” or à- (“nominalizing prefix”) + là (“to overtake”) + bá (“to meet, to come with, to fit”), literally “Someone who is overtaken or overtakes after some pursuit”. Both of these refer to the fact that Àlàbá is the second child after a set of twins.
Component words
Wiktionary records 2 different ways of breaking this word down. Each line is one of them, not a further part.
à-nominalizing prefix
làto overtake
5 entries are spelled “là”. The etymology calls it “to overtake”, but that isn't enough to tell them apart — we've linked to the first.
là
to be wealthy; to become wealthy, to become rich
là
to dilute a liquid
là
to shine like the moon/sun/light, to glow, to radiate
là
to survive
là
to cut, to divide, to separate, to slice
báto meet, to come with, to fit
Source: Wiktionary,
where this word is spelled “Alaba”.
Reference:
en-Alaba-yo-name-7Vo2QaFI