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chanada

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word chanada

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1700s late 18th century, Juan Ignacio González del Castillo More words from the 17th century
From
Caló chanar
Ultimate origin
Caló chanar

Pronunciation

  • /t͡ʃaˈnada/, [t͡ʃaˈna.ð̞a][1]

Forms

chanada f (plural chanadas)[1]

Etymology

It is probably a colloquial derivative with -ada, from Caló chanar (“to know, understand”), first meaning “a clever, knowing act”, which then came to mean “a swindle, a trick”.[2][3] Moliner also gives this origin, with a question mark.[4] The Caló verb comes from a root that is very much alive in Romani, probably going back to a Sanskrit verb meaning “he knows”; from it come Borrow's chanelar (“to know”) and the Spanish slang chanelar (“to understand”).[2][3]

The Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 explained it as a contraction of charranada, and Wiktionary calls it a clipping of that word.[5][6][1] The current DLE gives no etymology.[7] Corominas sets aside a derivation from the Andalusian pet form of the name Sebastián, because nothing shows that it meant “fool”.[2] He also finds the word too recent to be the Arabic word for “insult, indecency” proposed by Eguílaz.[2][8] The regional senses “mishap” in Aragon and “ailment, blow of fortune” in Murcia fit the Caló source less well.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is in the Andalusian playwright Juan Ignacio González del Castillo, who died in 1800: está buena la chanada / de haber pagado ya el banco / y salir con que no hay nada, “a fine trick, to have paid the bank already and be told there is nothing”.[2][9] There it means a bad deed, perhaps a swindle.[2]

Semantic evolution

The Academy's dictionary first recorded it in 1843 as “trickery, a hoax”.[2][10] The 1869 edition labelled it familiar.[11] Domínguez in 1846 described it as a dirty trick or deceitful act, mostly in the phrase jugar una chanada a alguien.[12] In Andalusia it is a bad action; in Aragon it meant a mishap or accident and was used as an exclamation.[9][13] The current DLE has one colloquial sense, a hoax or trick.[7]

Timeline

  • before 1800 – first record, in González del Castillo.[2][3]
  • 1843 – first in the Academy's dictionary (not yet in 1817).[2][10]
  • 1884 – the Academy calls it a contraction of charranada.[5]
  • 1908 – Borao records the Aragonese sense “mishap”.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (colloquial) A trick, hoax or piece of trickery: Menuda chanada me hizo ayer.[7][4][1]
  • chanelar
  • charranada

Usage notes

In Leonese, chanada is a different word, meaning a plain or level stretch of ground, from chano “flat”.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 321
  3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. chanada
  4. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. chanada
  5. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 326
  6. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 302
  7. ^ a b c 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. chanada
  8. ^ Eguílaz y Yanguas, Leopoldo de (1886), Glosario etimológico de las palabras españolas (castellanas, catalanas, gallegas, mallorquinas, portuguesas, valencianas y bascongadas) de origen oriental, Granada: La Lealtad, p. 397
  9. ^ a b Alcalá Venceslada, Antonio (1951), Vocabulario andaluz, Madrid: Real Academia Española, p. 191
  10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 219
  11. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 235
  12. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 521
  13. ^ a b Borao, Jerónimo (1908), Diccionario de voces aragonesas, 2nd ed., Zaragoza: Imprenta del Hospicio Provincial, p. 201
  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. chanada
Cite this entry

“Chanada.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/chanada. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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