alcancía

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piggy bank, money box, donation box, alms box, clay projectile
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/alkanˈsia/
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A container made to receive something through a narrow opening, with several historical and regional extensions.

Examples

  • La médica empleó el término anatómico y no alcancía.
    The doctor used the anatomical term, not private parts.
  • Los jinetes se lanzaban alcancías de barro.
    The riders threw clay projectiles at one another.
  • La alcancía de barro estaba casi llena.
    The clay money box was almost full.
  • Una crónica describe la alcancía como arma incendiaria.
    A chronicle describes the fire pot as an incendiary weapon.
  • Ese uso de alcancía es regional y espontáneo.
    That use of private parts is regional and spontaneous.

Similar words

fundillo
olla incendiaria
raya
parte íntima
hucha
proyectil incendiario
trasero
tambo
bola de barro
ladronera

Meanings

Savings container

noun
everyday
neutral
A closed container with a narrow slot for saving coins, traditionally made of clay and opened by breaking it.

Examples

  • Metí una moneda en la alcancía.
    I put a coin in the piggy bank.
  • La alcancía de barro estaba casi llena.
    The clay money box was almost full.
  • El niño rompió su alcancía para contar los ahorros.
    The boy broke his piggy bank to count the savings.
  • Guardamos el cambio en una alcancía con forma de cerdo.
    We keep the change in a pig-shaped piggy bank.
  • Cada domingo añade dos euros a la alcancía.
    Every Sunday she adds two euros to the money box.

Similar words

Donation box in the Americas

noun
religion
neutral
Across the Americas, a locked box with a slot that is fixed in a church or public place to collect donations.

Examples

  • Dejó una limosna en la alcancía de la iglesia.
    She left alms in the church donation box.
  • La alcancía para donativos está junto a la puerta.
    The donation box is beside the door.
  • Abrieron la alcancía al terminar la colecta.
    They opened the donation box after the collection.
  • La parroquia instaló una alcancía para ayudar al comedor.
    The parish installed a donation box to help the soup kitchen.
  • Nadie puede sacar dinero de la alcancía sin la llave.
    Nobody can take money from the alms box without the key.

Similar words

Historical clay projectile

noun
history
archaic
Historically, a hollow clay ball filled with ash or flowers and thrown by riders during a game of skill.

Examples

  • Los jinetes se lanzaban alcancías de barro.
    The riders threw clay projectiles at one another.
  • La alcancía se rompió contra el escudo.
    The clay ball broke against the shield.
  • Llenaron la alcancía de flores antes del juego.
    They filled the clay projectile with flowers before the game.
  • Cada jinete debía parar la alcancía con su escudo.
    Each rider had to stop the clay ball with his shield.
  • El museo conserva una alcancía usada en aquel ejercicio.
    The museum preserves a clay projectile used in that exercise.

Similar words

Historical incendiary pot

noun
warfare
archaic
Historically, a pot filled with burning tar and other flammable material that was thrown at an enemy.

Examples

  • Arrojaron una alcancía encendida desde la muralla.
    They threw a burning fire pot from the wall.
  • La alcancía contenía alquitrán y materias inflamables.
    The incendiary pot contained tar and flammable material.
  • El fuego de la alcancía alcanzó la torre de madera.
    The fire from the fire pot reached the wooden tower.
  • Los defensores prepararon varias alcancías para el asedio.
    The defenders prepared several incendiary pots for the siege.
  • Una crónica describe la alcancía como arma incendiaria.
    A chronicle describes the fire pot as an incendiary weapon.

Similar words

Exposed buttock crease in Chile

noun
body
slang
In Chilean youth slang, the visible top of the crease between the buttocks when clothing sits low.

Examples

  • Se le veía la alcancía al agacharse.
    His butt crack showed when he bent down.
  • Súbete el pantalón, que muestras la alcancía.
    Pull up your trousers, your butt crack is showing.
  • La foto captó su alcancía sin querer.
    The photo accidentally caught his butt crack.
  • La camiseta corta no tapaba la alcancía.
    The short shirt did not cover her butt crack.
  • La broma sobre su alcancía le resultó molesta.
    She found the joke about her butt crack annoying.

Similar words

Vulva in Honduras and Nicaragua

noun
sexuality
informal
In Honduras and Nicaragua, a popular spontaneous euphemism for the vulva.

Examples

  • La abuela usaba alcancía como eufemismo.
    Grandmother used private parts as a euphemism.
  • En esa conversación, alcancía se refería a la vulva.
    In that conversation, private parts referred to the vulva.
  • La médica empleó el término anatómico y no alcancía.
    The doctor used the anatomical term, not private parts.
  • La palabra alcancía suavizó la referencia íntima.
    The expression private parts softened the intimate reference.
  • Ese uso de alcancía es regional y espontáneo.
    That use of private parts is regional and spontaneous.

Similar words

Anus in El Salvador

noun
body
informal
In El Salvador, a popular spontaneous euphemism for the anus.

Examples

  • El niño dijo alcancía en vez de ano.
    The child said backside instead of anus.
  • En ese chiste salvadoreño, alcancía alude al trasero.
    In that Salvadoran joke, backside refers to the rear.
  • El médico evitó el eufemismo alcancía.
    The doctor avoided the euphemism backside.
  • Fuera de El Salvador, ese sentido de alcancía puede no entenderse.
    Outside El Salvador, that sense of backside may not be understood.
  • La familia usaba alcancía para no nombrar la parte del cuerpo.
    The family used backside to avoid naming the body part.

Similar words

Pig in El Salvador

noun
animals
neutral
In El Salvador, a regional name for the domestic pig.

Examples

  • La alcancía gruñía dentro del corral.
    The pig grunted inside the pen.
  • Vendieron una alcancía en el mercado del pueblo.
    They sold a pig at the village market.
  • La alcancía tuvo seis crías.
    The sow had six piglets.
  • Alimentó a la alcancía con maíz.
    He fed the pig corn.
  • En esa zona llaman alcancía al cerdo.
    In that area they call a pig an alcancía.

Similar words

Prison in Salvadoran criminal slang

noun
crime
slang
In Salvadoran criminal slang, a prison or jail.

Examples

  • Pasó dos años en la alcancía.
    He spent two years in prison.
  • La policía lo mandó a la alcancía.
    The police sent him to jail.
  • Juró que no volvería a la alcancía.
    He swore he would not return to prison.
  • En la jerga del grupo, alcancía significaba cárcel.
    In the group's slang, jail was the intended meaning.
  • La palabra alcancía marcaba el ambiente delictivo del relato.
    The word jail marked the story's criminal setting.

Similar words

Etymology

From Hispanic Arabic alkanzíyya, from Classical Arabic kanz, 'treasure', ultimately from Middle Persian ganǰ.

FAQ

What does alcancía usually mean?

It usually means a piggy bank or money box.

Is alcancía masculine or feminine?

It is feminine: la alcancía and las alcancías.

How is alcancía pronounced?

Alcancía is pronounced /alkanˈsia/, with stress on .

Where is alcancía used for a piggy bank?

The savings-container sense is especially common in Latin America. Hucha is frequent in Spain.

What is an alcancía in a church?

Across the Americas it can be a locked box for alms or donations.

Can alcancía be slang?

Yes. ASALE records regional body, animal, and prison senses, so context and country matter.

Where does alcancía come from?

It comes through Hispanic Arabic from a word meaning 'treasure'.

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