chacha

See also: cha-cha and cha cha

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Georgian ჭაჭა (č̣ač̣a).

A Georgian woman holding chacha (beverage)

Noun

chacha (countable and uncountable, plural chachas)

1. A traditional Georgian clear strong liquor distilled from pomace.

   Synonyms: Georgian brandy, Georgian vodka, grape vodka, vine vodka

Translations

Georgian grape vodka

• Armenian: ճաճա (hy) (čača)
• Belarusian: чача f (čača)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: chacha (fi)
• Galician: chacha (gl)
• Georgian: ჭაჭა (č̣ač̣a)
• German: Tschatscha f
• Polish: czacza f
• Russian: ча́ча (ru) f (čáča)
• Ukrainian: чача (uk) f (čača)

Etymology 2

Noun

chacha (plural chachas)

1. (music) A type of cylindrical metal rattle, derived from an instrument in the Haitian musical tradition, and used to play rhythm in certain Cuban genres (and in other nearby countries).
   • 2012, Joan Bouza Koster, Growing Artists: Teaching the Arts to Young Children, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 299:

     Display rhythm instruments from other cultures, such as Tibetan singing bowls; carved frog and cricket wood rasps from Indonesia; rain sticks and goat hoof chachas rattles from Bolivia; the telavi from Ghana; and woven shakers from Africa, Brazil, and India.

Usage notes

There is also an unrelated Cuban genre of music called cha-cha.

Etymology 3

From Hindi चाचा (cācā).

Noun

chacha (plural chachas)

1. (India) An uncle, especially one's father's younger brother.
   • 1958, The Illustrated Weekly of India:

     "Mama!" shouted Papi running forward, dragging Kaku along with him. Well, you can just imagine the happy scene! […] Looking across the courtyard he caught his chacha's eyes and they smiled and twinkled at him in secret understanding.

   • 2011, Sonia Golani, Corporate Divas, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

     She also admires her chachas—Sajjan's engineering bent of mind, Ratan's financial acumen and Naveen's abilities as a great communicator.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:chacha.

Aymara

Noun

chacha

1. man, husband

References

• "chacha" in Diccionario Aymara-Español

Central Huasteca Nahuatl

Etymology

Borrowed from Wastek tsatsa'.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaˈt͡ʃa/

Noun

chacha

1. pitahaya.

French

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃa.ʃa/

Noun

chacha m (plural chachas)

1. (Louisiana, Cajun) squash

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From Hindi चाचा (cācā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃatʃa/

Noun

chacha

1. uncle

   Synonyms: mama, tonton

References

• Carpooran, Arnaud (2011), Diksioner Morisien [Mauritian Dictionary] (in Mauritian Creole), second edition, Éditions Le Printemps, →ISBN, page 218

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃat͡ʃa/ [ˈt͡ʃa.t͡ʃa]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atʃa
• Syllabification: cha‧cha

Etymology 1

Shortened form of muchacha.

Noun

chacha f (plural chachas)

1. female equivalent of chacho (“kid”)

Noun

chacha f (plural chachas)

1. (derogatory) maid; cleaning lady (female servant or cleaner)

   Synonyms: domestica, empleada, empleada doméstica

Etymology 2

Shortened from chachaguato (“twins”), possibly from Classical Nahuatl chachahuatl, from chacha (“gizzard”) + coatl (“twin”).

Noun

chacha f (plural chachas)

1. (in the plural, Honduras) handcuffs

Adjective

chacha f

1. feminine singular of chacho

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

chacha

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

Further reading

• “chacha”, 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

Swahili

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Sabaki *-caca, from Common Bantu *-càca. Cognate with Giryama -tsatsa.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Verb

-chacha (infinitive kuchacha)

1. to ferment, turn sour

Conjugation

Conjugation of -chacha
Positive present -nachacha Subjunctive -chache Negative -chachi Imperative singular chacha
Infinitives
Positive kuchacha Negative kutochacha
Imperatives
Singular chacha Plural chacheni
Tensed forms
Habitual huchacha Positive past positive subject concord + -lichacha Negative past negative subject concord + -kuchacha
Positive present (positive subject concord + -nachacha) Singular Plural 1st person ninachacha/nachacha tunachacha 2nd person unachacha mnachacha 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anachacha wanachacha other classes positive subject concord + -nachacha
Negative present (negative subject concord + -chachi) Singular Plural 1st person sichachi hatuchachi 2nd person huchachi hamchachi 3rd person m-wa(I/II) hachachi hawachachi other classes negative subject concord + -chachi
Positive future positive subject concord + -tachacha Negative future negative subject concord + -tachacha
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -chache) Singular Plural 1st person nichache tuchache 2nd person uchache mchache 3rd person m-wa(I/II) achache wachache other classes positive subject concord + -chache
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -sichache Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngechacha Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singechacha Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngalichacha Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singalichacha
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -achacha) Singular Plural 1st person nachacha twachacha 2nd person wachacha mwachacha 3rd person m-wa(I/II) achacha wachacha m-mi(III/IV) wachacha yachacha ji-ma(V/VI) lachacha yachacha ki-vi(VII/VIII) chachacha vyachacha n(IX/X) yachacha zachacha u(XI) wachacha see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwachacha pa(XVI) pachacha mu(XVIII) mwachacha
Perfect positive subject concord + -mechacha "Already" positive subject concord + -meshachacha "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jachacha "If/When" positive subject concord + -kichacha "If not" positive subject concord + -sipochacha Consecutive kachacha / positive subject concord + -kachacha Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -kachache
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -nichacha -tuchacha 2nd person -kuchacha -wachacha/-kuchacheni/-wachacheni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -mchacha -wachacha m-mi(III/IV) -uchacha -ichacha ji-ma(V/VI) -lichacha -yachacha ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kichacha -vichacha n(IX/X) -ichacha -zichacha u(XI) -uchacha see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kuchacha pa(XVI) -pachacha mu(XVIII) -muchacha Reflexive -jichacha
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -chacha- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -chachaye -chachao m-mi(III/IV) -chachao -chachayo ji-ma(V/VI) -chachalo -chachayo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chachacho -chachavyo n(IX/X) -chachayo -chachazo u(XI) -chachao see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -chachako pa(XVI) -chachapo mu(XVIII) -chachamo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -chacha) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yechacha -ochacha m-mi(III/IV) -ochacha -yochacha ji-ma(V/VI) -lochacha -yochacha ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chochacha -vyochacha n(IX/X) -yochacha -zochacha u(XI) -ochacha see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kochacha pa(XVI) -pochacha mu(XVIII) -mochacha
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.

Swazi

Verb

-chacha

1. to loosen

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈχaχa/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈχaːχa/, /ˈχaχa/

Verb

chacha

1. aspirate mutation of cacha

Mutation

Mutated forms of cacha

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cacha	gacha	nghacha	chacha

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Western Huasteca Nahuatl

Etymology

Borrowed from Wastek tsatsa'.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃatʃa/

Noun

chacha

1. pitahaya

References

• Van't Hooft, Anuschka (2006); Lengua náhuatl y Cultura de la Huasteca, Coordinación de ciencias sociales y humanidades de la Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí City, Mexico.

Xhosa

Verb

-chacha

1. to recover

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.