arroba

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • n arroba a liquid measure (with different values) used in some Spanish speaking countries
    • n arroba a unit of weight used in some Spanish speaking countries
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • Arroba A Spanish liquid measure for wine = 3.54 imp. gallons, and for oil = 2.78 imp. gallons.
    • Arroba A Spanish weight used in Mexico and South America = 25.36 lbs. avoir.; also, an old Portuguese weight, used in Brazil = 32.38 lbs. avoir.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • n arroba A Spanish and Portuguese unit of weight. The following table shows the number of avoirdupois and local pounds it contains and its equivalent in kilograms: Places. Local Pounds. Av. Pounds. Kilos. Saragossa 36 27.390 12.424 Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro 32 32.381 14.688 Barcelona 26 22.985 10.426 Valencia 36 28.272 12.824 Paraguay 25 27.410 12.433 Castile, Buenos Ayres, Chili, Mexico, etc. 25 25.317 11.484 Alicante 24 and 36 28.254 12.816 There was also formerly in use in Valencia a small arroba of 10.687 kilograms.
    • n arroba A measure for wine, spirits, and oil in Spanish countries, arising from the Moorish practice of weighing those liquids; the cantara. There are two measures of this name. The commoner, the arroba mayor, contains in liters: in Castile, Cadiz, 16.137; in Bolivia, 16.073; in Malaga, 15.85; in Havana, 15.44; in Alicante, 11.550; in Valencia, 11.482. The arroba menor, in Madrid, is equivalent to 27.25 pounds of water or 12.564 liters: it was divided into 25 libras. Wine was sold by a weight of 32 pounds to the arroba.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • n Arroba a-rō′ba a weight of 25 or more pounds, used in Spanish and Portuguese regions.
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Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Sp. and Pg., from Ar. arrub, ar-rubu, a fourth part
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Ar.

Usage

In literature:

How many arrobas does the moon weigh?
"The Lands of the Saracen" by Bayard Taylor
Moreover, there must also be given two arrobas of rice, and one hen.
"The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803" by E.H. Blair
The exports of coffee for the whole island, were, in 1840, 2,197,771 arrobas; in 1841, 1,260,9201/2 arrobas.
"The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom" by P. L. Simmonds
That was so excellent a scheme that three thousand arrobas of metal were collected in a few days.
"The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume XVII, 1609-1616" by Various
To both classes is given one arroba of Castilian wine, and flour for the mass.
"The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume XXII, 1625-29" by Various
From Quito to Papallacta, two days and a half; riding beast, $2 silver, and $1 20 for each cargo of three arrobas.
"The Andes and the Amazon" by James Orton
English, and the arroba 25 1/2 lbs.
"Recollections of Manilla and the Philippines" by Robert Mac Micking
A Spanish wine-measure, eight of which make an arroba.
"The Sailor's Word-Book" by William Henry Smyth
That chief spent at that feast more than four hundred arrobas of wine, and more than one thousand birds.
"The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55" by Francisco Colin
Fifty years later, a thousand mills produced eight million arrobas; that is to say, each mill produced six times more sugar.
"History of Cuba; or, Notes of a Traveller in the Tropics" by Maturin M. Ballou
In the year 1770 there were exported to Vera Cruz more than five arrobas of wax.
"The History of Cuba, vol. 2" by Willis Fletcher Johnson
Thousands of arrobas of sugar, gone in a breath!
"Mavis of Green Hill" by Faith Baldwin
A patache arrived at Manila on December 27 from Macan, laden with five thousand arrobas of iron for Captain Juan Lopez de Ariduin.
"The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 29 of 55" by Various
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