Meaning

noun a long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur

noun any of several chiefly tropical constrictors with vestigial hind limbs

originFrom Middle English boa, from Latin boa (“large snake”), a species of serpent mentioned in Pliny's Naturalis Historia (Natural History). The scarf was named attributively, for its resemblance to the snake when worn.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0