Chavvie
/ˈtʃæv.i/noun
A child or youngster, especially in Northern English and Scots dialect usage.
Did you know?The word is related to Romani čhavo, meaning “boy” or “child,” but the later derogatory sense of “chav” developed in modern British English rather than representing the word’s original meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-Aryan period
Indo-Aryan
*chāva
“Young one or offspring; a proposed ancestral form behind Romani čhavo”
Medieval period
Romani
čhavo
“Boy, child, or young male”
19th Century
British Romani / English dialect
chavie
“Child or youngster”
19th–20th Century
Northern English and Scots
chavvie
“A child; a familiar or affectionate term for a youngster”
Late 20th Century
British English
chav
“Originally a young person, later a derogatory term for a stereotypically unfashionable or socially marginal young person”
Modern English
English
chavvie
“A dialectal or regional form meaning child or youngster”