alcancía

See also: alcancia

Spanish

Etymology

Derived from Arabic كَنْز (kanz), via Andalusian Arabic. Cognate with Portuguese alcanzia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alkanˈθia/ [al.kãn̟ˈθi.a] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /alkanˈsia/ [al.kãnˈsi.a] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -ia
• Syllabification: al‧can‧cí‧a

Noun

alcancía f (plural alcancías)

1. cashbox
2. collection (at a church)
3. (Latin America, Philippines, Canary Islands, Andalusia) piggy bank

   Synonyms: (Spain) hucha, (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay) chanchito, (Mexico, Venezuela) cochinito, (Guatemala) cochito, (Colombia) marranito, (Mexico) puerquito, (El Salvador) tunquito

Derived terms

• alcanciazo

Descendants

• → Cebuano: alkansiya
• → Hiligaynon: alkansiya
• → Maranao: alkansiya
• → Tagalog: alkansiya
• → Tausug: alkansiya
• → Yakan: alkansiya

Further reading

• “alcancía”, 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