hacha

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish hacha.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈat͡ʃa/, [ˈa.t͡ɕa]
• Rhymes: -at͡ʃa
• Hyphenation: ha‧cha

Noun

hacha f (plural haches)

1. axe (tool)

Further reading

• “hacha” in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana. Xosé Lluis García Arias. →ISBN.

Chamorro

Numeral

hacha

1. (Old Chamorro) one (in general)

   Synonym: uno

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

hacha

1. third-person singular past historic of hacher

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈat͡ʃa/ [ˈa.t͡ʃa]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atʃa
• Syllabification: ha‧cha

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish facha, borrowed from Old French hache, of Germanic origin.

Noun

hacha f (plural hachas)

1. axe, hatchet (tool for felling trees or chopping wood)
2. (colloquial) ace, wizard (someone who is especially skilled or unusually talented in a particular field)

Usage notes

• Feminine nouns beginning with stressed /ˈa/ like hacha take the singular definite article el (otherwise reserved for masculine nouns) instead of the usual la: el hacha. This includes the contracted forms al and del (instead of a la and de la, respectively): al hacha, del hacha.

These nouns also usually take the indefinite article un that is otherwise used with masculine nouns (although the standard feminine form una is also permitted): un hacha or una hacha. The same is true with determiners algún/alguna and ningún/ninguna, as well as for numerals ending with 1 (e.g., veintiún/veintiuna).

However, if another word intervenes between the article and the noun, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (la, una etc.) must be used: la mejor hacha, una buena hacha.

• If an adjective follows the noun, it must agree with the noun's gender regardless of the article used: el hacha única, un(a) hacha buena.
• In the plural, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (las, unas etc.) are always used.

Derived terms

• callo de hacha
• hacha de abordaje
• hacha de armas
• hacha de viento
• hachazo
• hachón
• lengua de hacha
• maestro de hacha
• paje de hacha

 

Descendants

• → Asturian: hachu, hacha
• → Cebuano: atsa
• → Isthmus Mixe: achë
• → Morelos Nahuatl: acha
• → Rayón Zoque: jacha
• → Tezoatlán Mixtec: achá
• → Western Apache: acha
• → Zacatlán-Ahuacatlán-Tepetzintla Nahuatl: acha

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Spanish facha, from a Vulgar Latin *fascla, from syncopation of *fascula, presumably from a crossing of Latin facula and fascis. Doublet of fácula, a borrowing. Cognate with Old Galician-Portuguese facha.

Noun

hacha f (plural hachas)

1. a kind of torch or large candle (often with four sticks)
2. a kind of wick or fuse (often made with esparto grass and tar), which does not go out easily in the wind
3. bundle of straw tied up like a strip and often used to help cover huts or other field constructions

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

hacha

1. inflection of hachar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “hacha”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28