qua
/kwɑː/preposition, interjection
qua is spelled Q-U-A: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a preposition, qua means “as; in the capacity of; acting as” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in qua?
| Letters | 3: Q-U-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,320th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is qua?
Qua appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce qua?
- /kwɑː/
- /kweɪ/
Qua has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-qua.ogg, En-us-qua2.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does qua mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
preposition
- 1
as; in the capacity of; acting as
As anatomy, physiology and, later, psychology have developed into more or less well-organized sciences, they have necessarily and rightly come to incorporate the study of, among other things, the structures, mechanisms, and functionings of
interjection
- 1
The cawing sound of a crow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Qua in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in the capacity of:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | en tant que |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does qua come from?
From Latin quā (“in the capacity of”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).