cipayo

Portuguese

Noun

cipayo m (plural cipayos)

1. obsolete spelling of sipaio

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese sipaio, from Persian سپاهی (sepâhi, “soldier, horseman”), from سپاه (sepâh, “army”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θiˈpaʝo/ [θiˈpa.ʝo] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /siˈpaʝo/ [siˈpa.ʝo] (most of Latin America, Philippines)

 

• IPA^(key): /siˈpaʃo/ [siˈpa.ʃo] (Latin America, Philippines)

• IPA^(key): /siˈpaʃo/ [siˈpa.ʃo] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /siˈpaʒo/ [siˈpa.ʒo] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Rhymes: -aʝo
• Syllabification: ci‧pa‧yo

Noun

cipayo m (plural cipayos)

1. sepoy
2. (Latin America, derogatory) a local who serves foreign interests

Further reading

• “cipayo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025