Chaval
/ˈtʃævəl/noun
A British informal word for a boy or young man, especially one associated with youthful street culture.
Did you know?Chaval belongs to a family of British slang terms influenced by Romani, whose vocabulary entered regional English through centuries of contact and travel.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Indo-Aryan
Sanskrit
śāva
“A young animal or offspring; traditionally cited as an ancestral source of the Romani term.”
Medieval period
Romani
čhāvo
“Boy, child, or son.”
19th Century
Romani-influenced English
chav / chaval
“A boy or young man, used in British regional and informal speech.”
20th Century
British English
chaval
“An informal term for a boy or young man.”
Modern English
English
chaval
“A British slang term for a boy or young man, sometimes used with class-coded or disparaging overtones.”