Cambio

Cambio is a noun used in several Romance languages, most notably Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. It denotes change, alteration, or replacement, and can refer to a process (el cambio de planes), a result, or a thing that has changed. In finance and everyday language, it also means exchange, especially currency exchange (cambio de divisas).

In Spanish, cambio appears in many expressions: cambio climático (climate change); cambio de moneda (currency exchange); cambio de marchas (gear shift); cambio de guardia (change of the guard). It can also signify a substitution, for example in sports or theater (un cambio). In Portuguese, câmbio covers similar senses and is used for currency exchange as well as mechanical gear transmission (câmbio). In Italian, cambio encompasses change and exchange and is used in phrases such as tasso di cambio (exchange rate) and ufficio di cambio or cambio valuta for a currency-exchange desk.

The term also appears in broader economic and legal language, where it often collocates with modifiers like tipo de cambio (exchange rate) or mercado de câmbio (foreign exchange market). Across contexts, cambio retains a core sense of movement from one state to another, whether referring to money, gear, plans, or climate.