calhau

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Provençal calhau, from Gaulish caljavo or from *caljo (“stone”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈʎaw/ [kaˈʎaʊ̯]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈʎaw/

• Rhymes: -aw
• Hyphenation: ca‧lhau

Noun

calhau m (plural calhaus)

1. stone, boulder
2. (derogatory, informal) idiot
3. (Brazil) placeholder
4. (Brazil, journalism) an ad placed to fill space in a newspaper page; filler
5. (Madeira) pebble beach

Derived terms

• arriar o calhau

References

• “calhau”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024