chicha

[ chee-chuh ]

noun

1. a beer made from fermented corn in South and Central America.

Word History and Origins

Origin of chicha¹

Borrowed into English from Colonial Spanish around 1750–60

Example Sentences

The team excavated artifacts, including painted pottery and jugs with the remains of traditional chicha, the corn-based drink that remains a mainstay of the Andes region today.

From New York Times

People ate maize and sweet potato, and probably drank "chicha", a type of sweet beer.

From BBC

You can find a Christmas song in just about any genre — including chicha, the Peruvian answer to American psychedelic rock.

From Los Angeles Times

Nearly a decade still had to pass before the Peruvian cumbia and to a lesser extent the chicha gained acceptance from the Andean nation’s upper classes.

From Los Angeles Times

But outside Latin America, the thing most people remember about chicha is that it often is fermented with human saliva.

From Seattle Times