chitchat vs chat

chitchat and chat both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
chitchat	Yes	No	Yes	No
chat	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, chat is a hypernym of chitchat; that is, chat is a word with a broader meaning than chitchat:

Other hypernyms of chitchat include confab, confabulation, schmoose, schmooze.

As verbs, chitchat and chat are synonyms defined as:

chitchat and chat: talk socially without exchanging too much information

chitchat (noun)	chat (noun)
light informal conversation for social occasions	songbirds having a chattering call
	birds having a chattering call
	an informal conversation

chitchat (verb)	chat (verb)
talk socially without exchanging too much information	talk socially without exchanging too much information