Guacho Definition and Meaning
Guacho comes from the Quechua cuzqueño wakcha which means “poor”, “orphan”. There are also similar words in other indigenous languages of America, for example, huajcha (in Aymara, orphan) and huachu (in Mapuche or Mapudungun, illegitimate child).
The word ‘bastard’ has several meanings in different countries such as:
Guacho applied to an animal
- It is an animal that has lost one or both parents, an orphan. In South America.
- It is a small breeding of any animal. Especially a small baby bird. It can be equivalent to ‘pigeon’ or ‘chick’. In Chile it is used especially as a calf, calf.
- It is a non-domestic animal, which through contact with people behaves like a pet, in Chile. It is also used in the form of a verb ‘aguachar’.
Guacho applied to a person
- Sometimes it is also used meaning orphan in South America. It is also used in a derogatory way, similar to ‘bastard’ in Chile and the Río de la Plata to refer to a person born out of wedlock.
- He is a soldier, a soldier, a person who belongs to the army. Employee in Mexico
- He is a person who has bad intentions, used in colloquial language in the Río de la Plata.
- He is a natural person from southern Mexico. Used disparagingly, similar to ‘chilango’. It is used in northern Mexico.
- He is a farmer, a natural person or resident in the field, used in colloquial language and in a derogatory way in Cuba.
- He is a young child. In Castilla La Mancha (Spain) and in the Río de la Plata. Sometimes it is accompanied by the adjectives ‘immature’ or ‘insolent’. It can be used in a derogatory but also carinoso way, similar to brat, in Chile and the Río de la Plata.
- It is the male part in a romantic relationship. It is used in colloquial language, similar to ‘boy’ in Castilla La Mancha (Spain).
Guacho applied to an object
- It is an unpaired object. Used in Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.
- It is a fraction of a lottery ticket. Used more in diminutive: ‘guachito’, in Ecuador and Peru.
Other meanings
- It is a plant that grows without being sown. In the Río de la Plata.
- It is a typical dish of Panama. It is a thick soup that has cooked rice, meat and some products such as guandú, yams and cassava.