cachondo

Forms

cachondo (feminine cachonda, masculine plural cachondos, feminine plural cachondas)^[1]

Etymology

Corominas derives it from cacho, which now survives only in secondary senses but seems once to have meant “whelp”: the adjective is a reduced form of *cachiondo, formed from Spanish cacho + -iondo like torionda from toro and verrionda from Latin verres (“boar”).^[2][3][4] Wiktionary agrees on the reduced form, but traces it to a Vulgar Latin *cattulibundus, built on catulio (“to be on heat”) or catulus (“whelp”) with -bundus.^[1] The DLE simply derives the word from the Latin noun for “whelp”.^[5]

That noun for a whelp probably came into Spanish through *cattulus, with an affectionate doubling of the consonant.^[2] García de Diego records Old Spanish cacho (“dog”) and Galician cachón (“animal on heat”) from the same Latin word.^[6] The Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 derived the adjective from the present participle of the Latin verb for “to be on heat”, and Alemany in 1917 from its gerundive.^[7][8][9]

The Latin noun for “young of an animal, puppy” goes back to Proto-Italic *katelos, and has a cognate in Umbrian, the name of a sacrificial animal.^[10][1] De Vaan doubts an Indo-European origin, although similar words exist in Germanic and Slavic.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alfonso X's Moamín, a treatise on hunting animals of the mid-13th century, uses the word of hounds on heat: hunting bitches are to be rested fasta que sean cachondas “until they are on heat” and then put to the dogs.^[11][1]

Semantic evolution

Corominas's Breve diccionario dates the word to about 1450 and glosses it as “dominated by sexual appetite”, said especially of a bitch.^[2][3] The Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 kept that sense and its special use of the bitch on heat.^[7][8] Applied to people, it came to mean “sexually aroused, lustful”, and also whatever arouses desire.^[5][12]

A colloquial sense “mocking, amusing, fond of a joke” appears in the Academy's 2001 dictionary; with ser it now describes a funny person or thing, and cachondo mental is a very funny person.^[13][12] The derivatives cachondearse “to make fun of” and cachondeo “joking, mockery” belong to the same family, and cachondez “sexual heat” is dated 1611.^[2][12] The DLE also has an old feminine plural cachondas for slashed hose.^[5][12]

In Leonese use the word can mean “vain, good-looking”, without any indecent sense.^[14] In Puerto Rico it has meant “elegant, refined”.^[15]

Timeline

• 1250 – Alfonso X's Moamín uses cachondas of bitches on heat.^[11][1]
• c. 1450 – the date Corominas gives for the word.^[2]
• 1571 – first record in the Americas, in a vocabulary from Mexico City: estar cachonda la perra.^[16]
• 1611 – first record of the derivative cachondez.^[2]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives the word from Latin catuliens.^[7]
• 2001 – the Academy's dictionary records the colloquial sense “mocking, amusing”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (vulgar) Of a bitch or another female animal: on heat, in rut.^[5][12][1]
2. (vulgar) Of a person: sexually aroused, horny, lustful; also as a noun.^[5][1]
3. (vulgar) Showing or arousing sexual desire.^[5][12]
4. (colloquial) Of a person or thing: funny, jokey, fond of teasing; also as a noun, a joker: Tu primo es un cachondo, siempre está de broma.^[5][12][1]

Noun

1. (feminine plural, historical) slashed hose, an old garment.^[5][12]

Word family

• cachondear
• cachondeo
• cachondez

Related words

• cachorro
• cacho
• Latin catulus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cachorro
3. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 107
4. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. cachondo
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. cachondo
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. catulus
7. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 184
8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 170
9. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 295
10. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. cachondo
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cachondo
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. cachondo
14. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. cachondo
15. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. cachondo
16. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. cachondo