tela

Learned borrowing from Latin tēla (“web”). Doublet of toile.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtiːlə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːlə

tela (plural telas or telae)

1. (anatomy) A thin, web-like structure or membrane.

• teal, tael, et. al, atel-, LATE, late, TEAl, Elta, et al., TEAL, et al, Teal, leat, EATL, ETLA, tale

tela

1. land

• Jacques Arends, Pieter Muysken, Norval Smith, editors (1994), Pidgins and Creoles: an introduction (in Annobonese)
• John H. McWhorter (2005), Defining Creole (in Annobonese)

Inherited from Old Catalan tela, from Latin tēla.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈtɛ.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈtə.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈtɛ.la]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

tela f (plural teles)

1. cloth, fabric
2. canvas (cloth on which one may paint)

   Synonym: llenç

• “tela”, 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
• “tela”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “tela” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “tela” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Borrowed from Spanish tela.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtela/ [ˈte.l̪a]
• Hyphenation: te‧la

tela (Basahan spelling ᜆᜒᜎ)

1. fabric; textile
2. cloth

   Synonym: henero

3. fiber/fibre

   Synonyms: torsido, ilo

From Proto-Finnic *tëla (compare Ingrian tela, Karelian tela, Veps tela), borrowed from Proto-Germanic *þelą. Doublet of teli.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtelɑ/, [ˈt̪e̞lɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -elɑ
• Syllabification^(key): te‧la
• Hyphenation^(key): te‧la

tela

1. one of the logs or other (round) pieces of wood placed under something, such as a boat or a pile of firewood, to keep it from directly touching the ground (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)
2. (by extension) a place where something is left or stored (usually in adessive, ablative or allative plural)
3. roller (one of a set of round logs used to help move a large object by rolling it over the logs)
4. roller, cylinder (rotating cylindrical part of a machine)
5. track; ellipsis of telaketju (“caterpillar track”)
6. platen (part of a printing press which presses the paper against the type and by which the impression is made)
7. platen, carriage (part of a typewriter or printer on which the paper rests to receive an impression)

• (round log used as support): telapuu

• “tela”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

• alet, laet

Borrowed from English tailor.

• IPA^(key): /téː.là/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [téː.lə̀]

tēlà m (plural tēlōlī, possessed form tēlàn)

1. tailor

tela

1. Niʻihau form of kēlā (“that”)

   He keiti tela.

   That (far away) is a child.

• In Niihau, diacritics are omitted. If one were to use them, the spelling would be tēlā.

From Proto-Finnic *tëla. Cognates include Finnish tela and Veps tela.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈtelɑ/, [ˈte̞ɫɑˑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈtelɑ/, [ˈte̞ɫɑˑ]
• Rhymes: -elɑ
• Hyphenation: te‧la

tela

1. ship cradle (structure used to hold a ship or boat on dry land)

Declension of tela (type 3/kana, no gradation, gemination)
	singular	plural
nominative	tela	telat
genitive	telan	telloin
partitive	tellaa	teloja
illative	tellaa	telloi
inessive	telas	telois
elative	telast	teloist
allative	telalle	teloille
adessive	telal	teloil
ablative	telalt	teloilt
translative	telaks	teloiks
essive	telanna, tellaan	teloinna, telloin
exessive1)	telant	teloint
1) obsolete *) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl) **) the comitative is formed by adding the suffix -ka? or -kä? to the genitive.

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971), Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 580

From Latin tēla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈte.la/
• Rhymes: -ela
• Hyphenation: té‧la

tela f (plural tele)

1. cloth

   Synonyms: stoffa, tessuto

2. canvas
3. curtain (theatre)
4. web

• telaio

• alte, late, tale

tela

1. to ripen

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈteː.ɫa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛː.la]

Inherited from Proto-Italic *tekslā, formed to the root of texō (“I weave”).

tēla f (genitive tēlae); first declension

1. web
2. warp (threads that run lengthwise in a loom)
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.261–264:

     [...] atque illī stēllātus iaspide fulvā
     ēnsis erat, Tyriōque ārdēbat mūrice laena
     dēmissa ex umerīs, dīves quae mūnera Dīdō
     fēcerat, et tenuī tēlās discrēverat aurō.

     And [Mercury saw] that [Aeneas’s] sword was starred with tawny jasper, and a cloak ablaze with Tyrian purple hung from his shoulders – splendid gifts which Dido had made – and its warp-threads were highlighted with thin gold.

3. loom
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 4.699–700:

     et tamen assiduīs exercet brāchia tēlīs
     ādversusque minās frīgoris arma parat.

     And yet she keeps her arms busy at the looms,
     and so prepares armor (having been) set against the threats of winter.

First-declension noun.

• subtīlis

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

tēla n

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of tēlum

• “tela”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tela”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "tela", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “tela”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to be exposed to the assaults of fate: fortunae telis propositum esse
    
  • (ambiguous) to discharge missiles: tela iacere, conicere, mittere
    
  • (ambiguous) to expose oneself to missiles: se obicere telis
    
  • (ambiguous) to discharge showers of missiles: tela ingerere, conicere
    
• “tela”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “tela”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• “tela”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 619

Borrowed from Kongo tela.

-tela (infinitive kotela)

1. to ripen

Borrowed from Portuguese telha

tela

1. brick

• teala, telo, teola, tiola, tiolo

Equivalent to til (“good”) plus an adverbial suffix -a of uncertain origin (see Campbell 1959, §666).

• IPA^(key): /ˈte.lɑ/

tela

1. well, rightly
2. completely, thoroughly, certainly
3. happily, prosperously, pleasantly
4. very

tela

1. well! good!

Inherited from Sanskrit तैल (tailá), itself from Sanskrit तिल (tila), cognate with Pali tila (“sesame”)

tela n^[1]

1. oil (particularly from sesame)^[1]

• telaghaṭa

• (Masovia):
  • (Łowicz) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛ.la]

tela

1. (Łowicz) alternative form of tyle

• Marzena Kozanecka-Zwierz, Magdalena Bartosiewicz, Renata Marciniak-Firadza, editors (2014), “tela”, in Gwara – Księżaków "język ojczysty" Dziedzictwo regionu łowickiego (in Polish), Łowicz: Muzeum w Łowiczu, →ISBN, page 60

• Rhymes: -ɛlɐ
• Hyphenation: te‧la

Learned borrowing from Latin tēla (“web; loom”). Doublet of teia (“web”).

tela f (plural telas, diminutive telinha, augmentative telona or telão m)

1. canvas (piece of canvas cloth stretched across a frame on which one may paint)
2. (by extension) painting (an illustration or artwork using paint)

   Synonyms: pintura, quadro

3. screen (viewing area of a movie, slide presentation, etc.)
4. (by extension) cinema

   Synonym: (Portugal) ecrã

5. (Brazil) screen (viewing area of electronic output devices)

   Synonym: (Portugal) ecrã

6. (biology) a very thin tissue

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

tela

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

• “tela”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “tela”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• taila (Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader)
• teila (Sursilvan, Surmiran)

From Latin tēla.

tela f (plural telas)

1. (textiles, Sutsilvan) material, textile, canvas

• tela filient (“spiderweb”)

• tyla

Inherited from Old Polish tyle.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.la/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛla
• Syllabification: te‧la

tela

1. this much, this many; as many as; as much as

• tela in silling.org

• IPA^(key): /ˈcɛɫa/

tela

1. genitive singular of telo

Inherited from Old Spanish tela, from Latin tēla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtela/ [ˈt̪e.la]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: te‧la

tela f (plural telas)

1. (clothing) cloth, fabric (woven material made of fibers)

   Synonym: género

2. (colloquial) difficult task (difficult or tedious undertaking, especially as part of one's duties)

   Limpiar el garaje es mucha tela.

   Cleaning the garage is tough work.

3. (colloquial) cash, dosh (money)

   Synonyms: pasta, plata

4. (colloquial, without article, followed by "de") plenty; shedload

   Synonyms: cantidad, mogollón, montón

tela

1. (Spain, colloquial) loads; lots; a shedload; extremely

   Synonyms: mazo, pila, fleje

   Es un chico tela de gracioso.

   He's a really funny fella.

• “tela”, 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

Borrowed from English trailer.

tela class IX (plural tela class X)

1. trailer (unpowered wheeled vehicle that is towed behind another)
2. trailer (preview of a film)

Borrowed from Spanish tela, from Old Spanish tela, from Latin tēla.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈtela/ [ˈt̪ɛː.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: te‧la

tela (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜒᜎ)

1. cloth; fabric; textile

   Synonyms: kayo, damit

• “tela”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Given by Hayami-Allen to be from Portuguese [Term?].

• IPA^(key): [ˈte.la]

tela

1. maize, corn

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Borrowed from Italian tela.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /teˈla/
• Hyphenation: te‧la

tela (definite accusative telayı, plural telalar)

1. (textiles) A piece of starched cloth placed between the main fabric and the lining for support; interlining.

• “tela”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “tela”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 4704

From Proto-Finnic *tëla, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *þelą. Cognates include Finnish tela.

tela

1. roller (cylindrical item placed under a heavy object to move or store it)

Inflection of tela (inflection type 5/sana)
nominative sing.	tela
genitive sing.	telan
partitive sing.	telad
partitive plur.	teloid
	singular	plural
nominative	tela	telad
accusative	telan	telad
genitive	telan	teloiden
partitive	telad	teloid
essive-instructive	telan	teloin
translative	telaks	teloikš
inessive	telas	teloiš
elative	telaspäi	teloišpäi
illative	telaha telha	teloihe
adessive	telal	teloil
ablative	telalpäi	teloilpäi
allative	telale	teloile
abessive	telata	teloita
comitative	telanke	teloidenke
prolative	teladme	teloidme
approximative I	telanno	teloidenno
approximative II	telannoks	teloidennoks
egressive	telannopäi	teloidennopäi
terminative I	telahasai telhasai	teloihesai
terminative II	telalesai	teloilesai
terminative III	telassai	—
additive I	telahapäi telhapäi	teloihepäi
additive II	telalepäi	teloilepäi

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “каток”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[3], Petrozavodsk: Periodika