Translations dictionary
chiva
or Chivas [chee-vah] or [chee-vuh s]
What does chiva mean?
Chiva is a Spanish word for a 鈥渇emale goat,鈥� among other things. It’s known as a slang term for heroin听and the name of a type of colorful bus in rural Colombia.听
Las Chivas, or “The Goats,” is a well-known nickname for a professional Mexican football club,听Club Deportivo Guadalajara.听There is also a popular brand of Scotch whisky called Chivas Regal鈥�which has nothing to do with goats.
Related words:
- Nanny goat
- Club Deportivo Guadalajara
- Escalera
- Scotch whisky
Where does chiva come from?
The Latin word for a female goat is capra, which became la听chiva in Spanish, las chivas in the plural.听
Chiva as slang for heroin first started to appear in South and Central America as well as the Southern United States around the 1960s. The name may come from the smell of black-tar heroin, which apparently smells like goats.
Chiva buses first started appearing in Colombia around the beginning of the 1900s. The name most likely comes with the buses鈥� ability to handle rough mountainous terrain like goats can.听In the 2000s, Colombians notably imported听chiva buses as听party buses in major cities around the world.
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In Mexico, chivas calls up听Club Deportivo Guadalajara, founded as Uni贸n Football Club 1906. They earned the nickname听Las Chivas in September, 1948 after a Jalisco-area newspaper ran the headline: “Jugaron A Las Carreras Y Ganaron Las 鈥楥hivas鈥� Uno A Cero,鈥� which roughly translates to 鈥淧layed the Races and Won the 鈥楪oats鈥� One to Zero.”听The article describes how the team pulled off an unlikely victory against their rivals鈥攖hough they played like crazy goats, or las chivas听locas.听But hey, goats are also tough, man. The team and fans embraced the nicknamed, even adopting a goat as its mascot.
PUMA CATch up
There was briefly a Chivas USA soccer team based in Los Angeles, CA, but it was disbanded in 2014.
Now, to the whisky. Chivas Regal听began in Scotland by brothers James and John Chivas, who owned a grocery store known for its aged whiskies. The surname Chivas is said to come from a Scottish Gaelic root meaning “narrow place by the river.”听Later owners of the store developed their namesake, Chivas Regal, in 1909 with their first Scotch whisky. As of 2018, Chivas听Regal is owned by French beverage conglomerate, Pernod Ricard.听
Examples of chiva
Who uses chiva?
Spanish speakers and writers around the world use听chiva to refer to a nanny goat, but it has many, many regional meanings.
In Colombia, a chiva refers to the bus. In Mexico, chiva is slang for cocaine or heroin while its plural chivas听is closely associated with the Guadalajara football club. Other meanings of la chiva refer to a goatee, bike, or hand-me-down as well as a way to call someone smart.
You might be careful asking for a double of some听Chivas, the whisky, in certain parts of Latin America, as you might get a very different kind of substance鈥攐r some serious side-eye.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of chiva like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of chiva that will help our users expand their word mastery.