A household item we often take for granted is the humble towel, which is known as toalla in Spanish. The term derives from the older term tobaja, ultimately originating from Proto-Germanic *þwahilō, similar to Frankish *þwahila.
Latin American Pronunciation
European Pronunciation
Toalla is a feminine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles:
- la toalla = the towel
- una toalla = a towel
- las toallas = the towels
- unas toallas = some towels
There are, of course, many different kinds of towels. The standard bath towel is known as toalla de baño, whereas a beach towel may be referred to as either toalla de playa or toalla playera.
A towel with smaller dimensions used for wiping one’s hands is a toalla de mano, whereas a face towel can be called either toalla de rostro or toalla de tocador. A very large bath or beach towel is often described as a toallón.
¡Esta toalla es tan suave!
This towel is so soft!
Some other towels that you might encounter include toalla de pie (foot towel), toalla de rodillo (roller towel), and toalla de papel (paper towel).
In actual fact, the last term on the list has a variety of names depending on your location. While toalla de papel will be understood anywhere, it’s valuable to know the local names for this product:
- servilleta (de papel) – used everywhere
- toalla mayordomo – Latin American
- toalla Nova – Chile (a brand name)
- servilleta mayordomo – Latin American
- papel mayordomo – Costa Rica
- papel de cocina – Costa Rica
A sanitary napkin or towel can go by three different names in Spanish: toalla higiénica, toalla femenina, and toalla sanitaria.
Important!
A dishtowel in Spanish takes another name: paño de cocina or trapo de cocina. In much of Central America, you will hear secador whereas repasador is more common in Argentina and Uruguay.
If you want to refer to an item of clothing or object that is made of towelling, you can use the expressions de toalla (of towel) or de tela de toalla (terry cloth).
If we threw our towels on the floor, they would never dry, which is why we use a variety of items to dry our towels. These include towel racks (los toalleros) and towel rods (los colgadores de toallas).
An English idiom everyone knows is to throw in the towel (meaning “to give up”), which in Spanish can be rendered quite literally as arrojar la toalla or tirar la toalla.
Después de todo su esfuerzo, tiró la toalla.
After all her effort, she threw in the towel.
