gavacho

Alternative forms

gabacho

Etymology

Attested since 1808 during the Peninsular war. Ultimately from Occitan gavach, originally ‘bird’s crop, goitre, swelling’, later ‘mountain-dweller, northerner, peasant’ (because of the high incidence of disease in these populations). Influenced by gabar (“to boast”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɡaˈβat͡ʃʊ]

Adjective

gavacho (feminine gavacha, masculine plural gavachos, feminine plural gavachas)

arrogant; boastful

Noun

gavacho m (plural gavachos, feminine gavacha, feminine plural gavachas)

(vulgar, ethnic slur, slang, derogatory) Frenchy
- 1808, anonymous author, Un labrador que foi sarxento:
  Si eu fora alá, meus queridos, por esta Cruz volo xuro, con mil cabezas francesas, había de vir, moi rufo; Esto con ser xa tan vello; mais vós, con catro estornudos, non deixarés un Gabacho, si poñedes ben os puntos; Ide á guerra, meus garridos, Dios vos axude, meus rulos, e aquel Patrón das Españas, que ten o pelo moi rubio
  If I go there, my loved ones, I swear on this cross that with a thousand French heads I would return, sound and healthy. And this being myself as old as I am. But you, with just four sneezes, won't leave a Frenchy left, if you put the points correctly. Go to war, my fine youngsters, God help you, my darlings, and that patron of the Spains who is so blonde!

References

Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “gavacho”, 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), “gavacho”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “gabacho”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN