ba

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Egyptian bꜣ, G53-Z1

noun

1. (Egyptian mythology) A being's soul or personality, represented as a bird-headed figure, which survives after death but must be sustained with offerings of food.
   Any ordinary person who has ever floated out of his body during a nap knows what a Ba is, but unfortunately the dogmas of our materialistic culture constrain the person to ignore and repress his experience. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 220
   But the Ba, I remembered, could be seen as the mistress of your heart and might or might not decide to speak to you, just as the heart cannot always forgive. 1983, Norman Mailer, Ancient Evenings

Etymology 2

The sound is very commonly made by infants, and is interpreted by parents as a reference to themselves.

noun

1. (colloquial and in direct address) Father, baba.

Etymology 3

noun

1. (historical) A medieval football game played in parts of Scotland around Christmas and New Year.
   The townsmen played ba often and clearly knew what they were doing. 2011, Alistair Moffat, The Borders

Etymology 4

noun

1. (in real estate ads) Abbreviation of bathroom.
   Coordinate term: br (“bedroom”)
   Alternative form: BA
   2 beds, 1 ba