15 Filipino Words You Didn’t Know Exist

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We often find foreigners who struggle to learn Tagalog rather amusing. But truth be told, Filipinos–no
matter how fluent we are in speaking our native language–still have so much to learn.

Ever heard of haynayan (biology),karumalan (menstrual period), orpanghibayo (amplifier)? If you

haven’t heard of these words, then welcome to the club! Indeed, we can be strangers even to our
own language.
Here are another 15 Filipino words andNEOLOGISMS (i.e. recently invented) that you might want
to share to your friends and office mates:

Filipino word: Pook-sapot

English translation: Website
Definition: A place on the World Wide Web that contains information about a person, organization,
etc., and that usually consists of many Web pages joined by hyperlinks. (Source: Merriam-
Webster)

Filipino word: Sulatroniko

English translation: E-mail
Definition: A system for sending messages from one computer to another
computer. (Source: Merriam-Webster)

Filipino word: Yakis

English translation: “To sharpen”
Definition: To make (something) sharp or sharper. (Source: Merriam-Webster)

Filipino word: Pang-ulong hatinig

English translation: Headset
Definition: A device that holds an earphone and a microphone in place on a person’s
head. (Source: Merriam-Webster)
Filipino word: Panginain
English translation: Browser
Definition: A computer program that is used to find and look at information on the
Internet. (Source: Merriam-Webster)

Filipino word: Pantablay

English translation: Charger
Definition: A device for charging storage batteries. (Source: Merriam-Webster)
Filipino word: Miktinig
English translation: Microphone
Definition: An instrument whereby sound waves are caused to generate or modulate an electric
current usually for the purpose of transmitting or recording sound (as speech or
music). (Source: Merriam-Webster)

Filipino word: Kawingan

English translation: Hyperlink
Definition: A highlighted word or picture in a document or Web page that you can click on with a
computer mouse to go to another place in the same or a different document or Web
page. (Source: Merriam-Webster)
Filipino word: Initsigan
English translation: Thermodynamics
Definition: A science that deals with the action of heat and related forms of
energy. (Source: Merriam-Webster)

Filipino word: Duyog

English translation: Eclipse
Definition: An occasion when the sun looks like it is completely or partially covered with a dark
circle because the moon is between the sun and the Earth. (Source: Merriam-Webster)
Filipino word: Danumsigwasan
English translation: Hydraulics
Definition: The science that deals with ways to use liquid (such as water) when it is
moving. (Source: Merriam-Webster)

Filipino word: Dagibalniing liboy

English translation: Electromagnetic wave
Definition: One of the waves that are propagated by simultaneous periodic variations of electric and
magnetic field intensity and that include radio waves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and
gamma rays. (Source: Merriam-Webster)
Filipino word: Bilnuran
English translation: Arithmetic
Definition: A branch of mathematics that deals usually with the nonnegative real numbers including
sometimes the transfinite cardinals and with the application of the operations of addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division to them. (Source: Merriam-Webster)

Filipino word: Asoge

English translation: Mercury
Definition: A silver metal that is liquid at normal temperatures. (Source: Merriam-Webster)
Filipino word: Anluwage
English translation: Carpenter
Definition: A person whose job is to make or fix wooden objects or wooden parts of
buildings. (Source: Merriam-Webster)