kalingkingan

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• calinquing̃an, calingquing̃an, calincqing̃an — obsolete, Spanish-based spelling
• kalinkingan — dated

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kiŋkiŋ

Proto-Austronesian *-al-

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaliŋkiŋ

Tagalog kalingkingan

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaliŋkiŋ, from *kiŋkiŋ + Proto-Austronesian *-al-. Compare Kapampangan kalingking, Asi kamayingking, Aklanon kumaingking, Cebuano kumayingking, Hiligaynon kamalingking, Waray-Waray kamuyingking, Yakan kingking, Maguindanao kingking, Tausug kingking, Indonesian kelingking, Malay kelengkeng, Javanese ꦏ꧀ꦭꦶꦁꦏꦶꦁ (klingking), Old Javanese kaliṅkiṅan, and Tok Pisin kilikili. By surface analysis, *kalingking +‎ -an, the root from *kingking +‎ *-al-.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˌkaliŋˈkiŋan/ [ˌk̠aː.lɪŋˈk̠iː.ŋɐn̪]
• Rhymes: -iŋan
• Syllabification: ka‧ling‧ki‧ngan

Noun

kálingkíngan (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜎᜒᜅ᜔ᜃᜒᜅᜈ᜔)

1. (anatomy) little finger or little toe; pinky

   Synonym: hinliliit

2. (figurative) bound; boundary; confine; limit
   • 2016, owwSIC, That Promdi Girl: Book 3‎^[1], page 45:

     Kumpara sa'yo, 'yang hinanakit mo, wala pa sa kalingkingan ng mga hinanakit na naranasan ko.

     Compared to you, that hurt in you, it's not yet at the bounds of the hurt I experienced.

3. (figurative, obsolete) a dwarfish person or thing

Derived terms

• ang sakit ng kalingkingan, damdam ng buong katawan
• gakalingkingan
• kalingkinganin
• kumalingkingan
• wala sa kalingkingan

Further reading

• “kalingkingan”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “kalingkingan”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de; Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860), Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves, y coordinado por…, ultimamente aumentado y corregido por varios religiosos de la Orden de Agustinos calzados.‎^[2] (overall work in Spanish and Classical Tagalog), Manila: Ramírez y Giraudier.
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613), Vocabulario de lengua tagala. El romance castellano puesto primero. Primera, y segunda parte.‎^[3] (overall work in Early Modern Spanish and Classical Tagalog), as directed by Gov. Gen. Juan de Silva, Pila, Laguna: La noble Villa de Pila, por Tomás Pinpin y Domingo Loag., page 219: “Dedo) Calingcqing̃an (pp) q̃ llamanos meñique”
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*kiŋkiŋ”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*kaliŋkiŋ”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI