ambia
AHM-byahnounInformalHavana
A Cuban Spanish slang term. Browse all Cuban slang.
What it means
Friend, brother. Markedly street: it places the speaker in the world of the barrio, the Abakuá lodge or the prison yard in a way that asere no longer does.
Used vocatively on its own, often with an emphatic eh — ¡eh, ambia!
Examples with translations
Ese ambia mío me tiró un cabo cuando nadie más lo hizo.
That brother of mine gave me a hand when nobody else would.
¡Eh, ambia, ven acá!
Hey, brother, come here!
Where it comes from
From Bantu (Kikongo) mbia, 'friend, companion', by way of the Abakuá and Palo Monte religious registers. It belongs to the same Afro-Cuban stratum as monina and nagüe, and like them it never fully crossed into neutral speech.
Other forms
- Similar terms:
- monina, nagüe, ecobio