chile

See also: Chile and Chi-lê

English

Etymology 1

From Spanish chile. A variant of chili, chilli; see that entry for more information.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪli/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪli
• Homophones: Chile (one General American pronunciation), chili, chilli, chilly

Noun

chile (plural chiles)

2. (US, regional) Alternative form of chili (a chili pepper).

Derived terms

• chilehead

 

Translations

chili — see chili

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃaɪl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪl

Noun

chile (plural chillun or chirren)

1. Pronunciation spelling of child, representing Southern US and African-American Vernacular English.
   • 1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books (2014), page 546:

     “I wants all the women and chillun and the old and the sick folks brought out.”

Alternative forms

• chyle

Derived terms

• honey chile

Anagrams

• Liech., cheli-, chiel, elchi, lechi

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃi.li/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃi.li/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃi.le/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃi.lɨ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃi.lɨ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃi.lɨ/

• Hyphenation: chi‧le

Noun

chile m (plural chiles)

1. Alternative form of chili

Verb

chile

1. inflection of chilar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl chīlli (“pepper”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃile/ [ˈt͡ʃi.le]

• Audio (Latin America):

  (file)

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ile
• Syllabification: chi‧le

Noun

chile m (plural chiles)

1. (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, US) a chili pepper

   Synonyms: ají, pimiento, picante, guindilla

   Hyponyms: jalapeño, poblano, habanero, chipotle, serrano

2. (vulgar, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico) penis

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pene

Derived terms

• aguachile
• al chile
• carne con chile
• chile ancho
• chile con carne
• chile de agua
• chile dulce
• chile en polvo
• chile morrón
• chile panameño
• chile relleno
• chile verde
• enchilar

 

Further reading

• “chile”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10