What does chota mean?
Chota is a Hindi and Urdu word meaning 'small', 'little', or 'younger', adopted into South Asian English and familiar internationally mainly through a handful of fixed expressions. In everyday Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi speech it functions much like English 'little': a chota bhai is a younger brother, and chota can describe anything diminutive in size, rank, or importance. Its most famous appearance in English is the 'chota peg' — a small measure of whiskey — a phrase dating from the British colonial period and still heard in clubs and homes across the subcontinent, along with 'chota hazri', the early morning snack taken before a proper breakfast. Because these compounds carry strong historical flavour, chota often evokes colonial-era life, army cantonments, and old family hierarchies. The word is informal and regional: outside South Asia it is unlikely to be understood except in its borrowed phrases. Its natural counterpart is barā, the Hindi word for 'big'. For anyone reading South Asian fiction, memoir, or journalism, recognising chota unlocks a layer of affectionate domestic detail that plain English translations flatten away.
adjectiveSmall or little; younger. A loanword from Hindi/Urdu used within South Asian English, often in fixed phrases such as 'chota peg' (a small drink of spirits) or 'chota hazri' (an early light breakfast).
- Small or little in size (Hindi/Urdu loanword used in South Asian English).
- Younger in age or junior in status, as in referring to a younger sibling.
"He ordered a chota peg before dinner, just enough whiskey to take the edge off the evening."
"She poured herself a chota peg and sat down to watch the sunset."
"In the family hierarchy, he was always 'chota bhai' — the little brother."
The British Raj loved this little word so much that 'a chota peg' became shorthand across the Empire for a modest evening whiskey.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chota
Chota comes directly from Hindi and Urdu chhoṭā (छोटा), meaning small or young, which entered English during the period of British involvement in India. It travelled into English chiefly through Anglo-Indian colloquial speech and colonial-era phrases such as 'chota peg' and 'chota hazri', many of which remain current in South Asian English today. Its everyday antonym in Hindi and Urdu is barā, meaning big.
How chota is actually used
Informal and regionally specific: 'chota' appears in English almost exclusively in South Asian contexts and in colonial-era phrases retained there. Outside South Asia it may be unfamiliar, though phrases like 'chota peg' survive in older British military and club vocabulary.
Easily confused with chota
'Chattel' is an English legal term for personal property, while 'chota' is a Hindi-derived word meaning small or little.