Makaw

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• Macao
• Macau

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish Macau, from Portuguese Macau, from Cantonese 阿媽港／阿妈港 (“Mazu Harbor”).
The "good cook" sense is due to historically cooks and chefs across Manila and large towns across the Philippines, especially Luzon such as in Pampanga and Baguio, were usually ethnic Chinese people from Macau or Canton and their descendants, as per Manuel (1948).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /maˈkaw/ [mɐˈxaʊ̯]
• Rhymes: -aw
• Syllabification: Ma‧kaw

Proper noun

Makáw (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜃᜏ᜔)

1. Macau (a city and special administrative region of China)
   • 1998, Mariano Ponce, Jaime Carlos de Veyra, Efemérides filipinas:

     Sa pagkakawalay ng Portugal sa korona ng España noong 1640 ay napasama rin ang Goa, Molukas, Makaw, atbp. Ang mga iyon ay itinuturing ng mga pag-aaring Portugés, bago naisanib ang kahariang ito sa Imperyong Kastila noong 1580.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

Makáw (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜃᜏ᜔)

1. Macao Chinese; Macanese; Cantonese (a Chinese person from Macau or Canton)
2. (by extension) a good cook

Derived terms

• lumpiyang makaw
• lutong makaw

 

Related terms

• Fukien
• Intsik
• makan

 

Further reading

• Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948) Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 40