chavo

See also: chavó, ćhavo, and čhavo

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish ochavo.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃa.vu/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃa.vu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃa.vu/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃa.bu/ [ˈt͡ʃa.βu]

• Rhymes: -avu, (Northern Portugal) -abu
• Hyphenation: cha‧vo

Noun

chavo m (plural chavos)

1. small coin (small amount of money)

Further reading

• “chavo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Romani

Noun

chavo m anim (plural chave)

1. Anglicized form of ćhavo

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃabo/ [ˈt͡ʃa.β̞o]
• Rhymes: -abo
• Syllabification: cha‧vo

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Romani ćhavoder.

Caló chavóbor.

Spanish chavo

Borrowed from Caló chavó.

Noun

chavo m (plural chavos, feminine chava, feminine plural chavas)

1. (Mexico) boy, kid

   Synonyms: chaval, chamaco, morro

   El Chavo del Ocho

   The Kid or The Boy from number Eight

2. (Mexico, slang) guy (usually in his 20's)

   Synonym: chaval

3. (Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico) romantic partner

Related terms

• chaval

Etymology 2

Clipping of ochavo.

Noun

chavo m (plural chavos)

1. (colloquial) ochavo (former currency of Spain made of copper)
2. (colloquial, Cuba) centavo (subunit of the Cuban peso)
3. (colloquial, Puerto Rico) centavo (subunit of the Puerto Rican dollar)
4. (colloquial, Puerto Rico) cent (subunit of the US dollar)
5. (colloquial, Puerto Rico) penny, cash, dough
6. (colloquial, Canary Islands) penny (small-denomination coin)

Further reading

• “chavo”, 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