chango

See also: Changó

Spanish

Etymology

Clipping of machango, from Guanche.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃanɡo/ [ˈt͡ʃãŋ.ɡo]
• Rhymes: -anɡo
• Syllabification: chan‧go

Noun

chango m (plural changos)

1. (Mexico, Central America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines) monkey

   Synonym: mono

2. (Argentina) shopping trolley, shopping cart

   Synonym: carrito

3. (Bolivia, Argentina) kid, child (specifically NW Argentina)
4. Cynopotamus magdalenae, a freshwater fish of Colombia.
5. (Puerto Rico) Greater Antillean grackle (Quiscalus niger)

Usage notes

• chango is a false friend of English change; related to this term are canje, canjear, cambio and cambiar

Related terms

• (diminutive) changuito m

Descendants

• → Magdalena Peñasco Mixtec: chanku
• → Sayula Popoluca: changu
• → Tagalog: tsonggo

See also

• chongo m
• mico m
• simio m
• zanate m

References

• Gillespie-Duelos, Eduardo. (1975) A Glossary of San Antonio Jargon. American Speech, vol. 50, no. 1/2, 140–142.

Further reading

• “chango”, 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
• “chango”, 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

Swahili

Pronunciation

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /ˈtʃɑ.ᵑɡɔ/

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

chango

1. plural of uchango