chile
Noun pluralchiles, chillun, chirren
Pluralchiles, chillun, chirren
- 1A South American country, officially called the Republic of Chile, with Santiago as its capital and largest city.
She spent a semester in Chile, teaching English in a small town outside Santiago.
Chile shares a long border with Argentina along the Andes.
- 2Alternative spelling of chili.
The diner smothers its burritos in green chile, and the hotter the better.
She bought a sack of dried red chile at the farmers' market.
Note
Spanish chile survives intact in this regional American spelling, and its plural is chiles. It does the same work as chili (the fresh or dried pepper, the ground spice, the dish made with them), so choosing it is a matter of local habit rather than meaning. Capitalized, it is the South American country, and chili itself was once a spelling of that country's name.
- 3CHYL/ˈt͡ʃaɪl/Pronunciation spelling of child, representing Southern US and African-American Vernacular English.
"Lord, that chile can sing," Mother Hattie said as the choir filed out of church.
"Hush now, chile, your mama's on the phone," the old woman whispered.
Note
The spelling puts a Southern or African-American speaker's pronunciation on the page, so it lives in dialogue rather than in narration. Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) writes the plural as chillun. In recent online writing it also stands alone as an exclamation that opens a reaction: "Because, chile."
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Spanish chile; it is a variant of chili and chilli.
From Spanish Chile, whose earlier origin is uncertain, possibly from Quechua chiri ("cold").