Etymograph

English

muchacho

Muchacho comes from Spanish muchacho ‘boy or young adult’, and goes back to mozo.

  1. Spanishc. 1500–presentmozo1‘boy, lad, young man, youth’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentmochacho1
  3. Spanishc. 1500–presentmuchacho1‘boy or young adult’
  4. Englishtodaymuchacho1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English muchacho

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Spanishc. 1500–presentmozoWiktionary, English muchacho‘boy, lad, young man, youth’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentmochachoWiktionary, English muchacho
  3. Spanishc. 1500–presentmuchachoWiktionary, English muchacho‘boy or young adult’
  4. EnglishtodaymuchachoWiktionary, English muchacho

Every English word from Spanish mozo

Today it means

noun An informal term of address, especially to a young man; similar to man, chap, dude, etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “muchacho”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Spanish mozo / muchacho

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