facha

See also: fachá and fâcha

Galician

fachas ("torches"): Festa dos fachós, Castro Caldelas, Galicia

Etymology 1

14th century. From Old Galician-Portuguese facha, from Vulgar Latin *fascla, from syncopation of *fascula, from Latin facula (“small torch”) crossed with fascis (“bundle”). Compare Portuguese facha, Spanish hacha.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfat͡ʃa̝/

Noun

facha f (plural fachas)

1. torch (especially made from a bunch or faggot of straw)
   • c1350, Kelvin M. Parker (ed.), Historia Troyana. Santiago: Instituto "Padre Sarmiento", p. 57:

     Et ẽna camara avia moy grã lume de candeas et de fachas que y ardiam

     in the room there were a great light because of the candles and torches burning there

   Synonyms: facho, fachuzo

2. large votive candle

Derived terms

• facheiro

Etymology 2

From Italian faccia, probably through Spanish facha.

Noun

facha f (plural fachas)

1. looks of a person, when considered negatively

Etymology 3

From Spanish facha, from Italian fascista. Compare French facho.

Adjective

facha m or f (plural fachas)

1. (informal, offensive) fascist
2. (derogatory) right-wing

Noun

facha m or f by sense (plural fachas)

1. (informal, offensive) fascist
2. (derogatory) right-wing person

Etymology 4

From Old Galician-Portuguese facha, presumably from Old Spanish facha, from Old French hache (“axe”). Compare modern Spanish hacha.

Noun

facha m (plural fachas)

1. (archaic) battle axe

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “facha”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “facha”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “facha”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “facha”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “facha”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Old Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhat͡ʃa/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French hache. First attested in the 13th century, in the Cantar de Fernán González.

Noun

facha f (plural fachas)

1. axe

Descendants

• Spanish: hacha
  • → Asturian: hachu, hacha
  • → Cebuano: atsa
  • → Kaiwá: hácha
  • → Isthmus Mixe: achë
  • → Mbya Guarani: haxa
  • → Morelos Nahuatl: acha
  • → Paraguayan Guarani: ácha, hácha
  • → Rayón Zoque: jacha
  • → Tezoatlán Mixtec: achá
  • → Western Apache: acha
  • → Zacatlán-Ahuacatlán-Tepetzintla Nahuatl: acha
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: facha
  • Galician: facha

Etymology 2

From Vulgar Latin *fascla, from syncopation of *fascula, presumably from a crossing of Latin facula and fascis. Cognate with Old Galician-Portuguese facha. First attested in c. 1400.

Noun

facha f (plural fachas)

1. torch

Descendants

• Spanish: hacha

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfat͡ʃa/ [ˈfa.t͡ʃa]
• Rhymes: -atʃa
• Syllabification: fa‧cha

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Italian faccia (“face”).

Noun

facha f (plural fachas)

1. (colloquial, Rioplatense, Spain) appearance, looks, style

   ¡Qué facha! ― Wow, you look great! / Wow, those clothes look great on you!

   • 1984, “Cena recalentada”, in A Santa Compaña, performed by Golpes Bajos:

     ¿Dónde has estado? ¡Mira que facha!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (colloquial, Rioplatense) a person's face
3. (in the phrase en fachas, Mexico, Central America) clothing that's either in poor condition or not appropriate for some occasion

Related terms

• en fachas
• fachada
• fachero
• fachoso

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Latin fascis

Italian fascio

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Hellenic *-tās

Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs)

Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor.

Latin -istabor.

Italian -ista

Italian fascistabor.

Spanish fascista

Spanish -acha

Spanish facha

From fascista + -acha.

Adjective

facha m or f (masculine and feminine plural fachas) (Spain)

1. (slang) fascist
2. (derogatory) right-wing

   Synonym: derechista

Noun

facha m or f by sense (plural fachas) (Spain)

1. (slang) fascist

   Synonym: (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay) facho

   • 2019 January 14, Xavier Vidal-Folch, “Lo normal en Europa no es ser facha”, in El País‎^[3]:

     Así que la norma en la UE no es que manden los fachas. Sino que las derechas democráticas y los centrismos liberales los mantienen alejados del poder.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (derogatory, by extension) right-wing person

   Synonym: derechista

Derived terms

• facherío
• Team Facha

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

facha

1. inflection of fachar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “facha”, 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
• “facha”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010