macha

Transliteration of Tamil மச்சான் (maccāṉ)

• IPA^(key): /mətʃaː/

macha (plural machas)

1. (Tamil Nadu, slang, informal) best friend

   Synonym: bro

Borrowed from Spanish macha or formed by analogy from English macho.

macha (comparative more macha, superlative most macha)

1. (of a woman) macho
   • 1990 February 4, Vanessa Nemeth, Stephanie Poggi, “Bumps And All”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 12:

     You know, I wonder how class affects the butch/fem aspects of our relationship, because I know there's this macha thing where you want to provide for me in some way.

• Constantine V. Nakassis (2 April 2014), “Suspended Kinship and Youth Sociality in Tamil Nadu, India”, in Current Anthropology‎^[1], volume 55, number 2, page 9

From Middle Irish machad.^[1] See machair (“plain and arable land”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmˠɑxə/^[2], /ˈmˠaxə/

macha m (genitive singular macha, nominative plural machaí)

1. enclosure for milking cows, cattle field, cattle yard
2. herd of cattle

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1927), “maċa”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla [Irish and English Dictionary], 2nd edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 692; reprinted with additions 1996, →ISBN
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “macha”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

• Rhymes: -axa
• Syllabification: ma‧cha
• Homophone: Macha

Clipping of masa + -cha.

macha f

1. (Western Kraków, Szczodrkowice, Maszków) augmentative of masa (“mass”) (large number or amount)

   macha piéniędzy ― mass of money

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

macha

1. third-person singular present of machać

• Jan Karłowicz (1903), “masa”, in Hieronim Łopaciński, Wacław Taczanowski, editors, Słownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 3: L do O, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 122

macha

1. feminine singular of macho

• IPA^(key): /ˈmat͡ʃa/ [ˈma.t͡ʃa]

• Audio (Costa Rica):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atʃa
• Syllabification: ma‧cha

Of indigenous/Native American origin, probably from Mapudungun.

macha f (plural machas)

1. an edible razor clam of species Ensis macha

   Synonyms: navaja, navajuela

macha f (plural machas)

1. (Costa Rica) female equivalent of macho: blonde

macha

1. feminine singular of macho

macha

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

• “macha”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025