Glossary
abá
A Tagalog exclamation of wonder, surprise, etc., often used to introduce or emphasize a contradictory statement.
abaka
“Manila hemp,” the fiber of a plant of the banana family.
achara
Pickles made from the tender shoots of bamboo, green papayas, etc.
alcalde
Governor of a province or district with both executive and judicial authority.
alferez
Junior officer of the Civil Guard, ranking next below a lieutenant.
alibambang
A leguminous plant whose acid leaves are used in cooking.
alpay
A variety of nephelium, similar but inferior to the Chinese lichi.
among
Term used by the natives in addressing a priest, especially a friar: from the Spanish amo, master.
amores-secos
“Barren loves,” a low-growing weed whose small, angular pods adhere to clothing.
andas
A platform with handles, on which an image is borne in a procession.
asuang
A malignant devil reputed to feed upon human flesh, being especially fond of newborn babes.
ate
The sweetsop.
Audiencia
The administrative council and supreme court of the Spanish regime.
Ayuntamiento
A city corporation or council, and by extension the building in which it has its offices; specifically, in Manila, the capitol.
azotea
The flat roof of a house or any similar platform; a roof-garden.
babaye
Woman (the general Malay term).
baguio
The local name for the typhoon or hurricane.
bailúhan
Native dance and feast: from the Spanish baile.
balete
The Philippine banyan, a tree sacred in Malay folklore.
banka
A dugout canoe with bamboo supports or outriggers.
Bilibid
The general penitentiary at Manila.
buyo
The masticatory prepared by wrapping a piece of areca-nut with a little shell-lime in a betel-leaf: the pan of British India.
cabeza de barangay
Headman and tax collector for a group of about fifty families, for whose “tribute” he was personally responsible.
calle
Street.
camisa
1. A loose, collarless shirt of transparent material worn by men outside the trousers.
2. A thin, transparent waist with flowing sleeves, worn by women.
camote
A variety of sweet potato.
capitan
“Captain,” a title used in addressing or referring to the gobernadorcillo or a former occupant of that office.
carambas
A Spanish exclamation denoting surprise or displeasure.
carbineer
Internal-revenue guard.
cédula
Certificate of registration and receipt for poll-tax.
chico
The sapodilla plum.
Civil Guard
Internal quasi-military police force of Spanish officers and native soldiers.
cochero
Carriage driver: coachman.
Consul
A wealthy merchant; originally, a member of the Consulado, the tribunal, or corporation, controlling the galleon trade.
cuadrillero
Municipal guard.
cuarto
A copper coin, one hundred and sixty of which were equal in value to a silver peso.
cuidao
“Take care!” “Look out!” A common exclamation, from the Spanish cuidado.
dalag
The Philippine Ophiocephalus, the curious walking mudfish that abounds in the paddy-fields during the rainy season.
dalaga
Maiden, woman of marriageable age.
dinding
House-wall or partition of plaited bamboo wattle.
director, directorcillo
The town secretary and clerk of the gobernadorcillo.
distinguido
A person of rank serving as a private soldier but exempted from menial duties and in promotions preferred to others of equal merit.
escribano
Clerk of court and official notary.
filibuster
A native of the Philippines who was accused of advocating their separation from Spain.
gobernadorcillo
“Petty governor,” the principal municipal official.
gogo
A climbing, woody vine whose macerated stems are used as soap; “soap-vine.”
guingón
Dungaree, a coarse blue cotton cloth.
hermano mayor
The manager of a fiesta.
husi
A fine cloth made of silk interwoven with cotton, abaka, or pineapple-leaf fibers.
ilang-ilang
The Malay “flower of flowers,” from which the well-known essence is obtained.
Indian
The Spanish designation for the Christianized Malay of the Philippines was indio (Indian), a term used rather contemptuously, the name Filipino being generally applied in a restricted sense to the children of Spaniards born in the Islands.
kaing̃in
A woodland clearing made by burning off the trees and underbrush, for planting upland rice or camotes.
kalan
The small, portable, open, clay fireplace commonly used in cooking.
kalao
The Philippine hornbill. As in all Malay countries, this bird is the object of curious superstitions. Its raucous cry, which may be faintly characterized as hideous, is said to mark the hours and, in the nighttime, to presage death or other disaster.
kalikut
A short section of bamboo in which the buyo is mixed; a primitive betel-box.
kamagon
A tree of the ebony family, from which fine cabinet-wood is obtained. Its fruit is the mabolo, or date-plum.
kasamá
Tenants on the land of another, to whom they render payment in produce or by certain specified services.
kogon
A tall, rank grass used for thatch.
kris
A Moro dagger or short sword with a serpentine blade.
kundíman
A native song.
kupang
A large tree of the Mimosa family.
kuriput
Miser, “skinflint.”
lanson
The langsa, a delicious cream-colored fruit about the size of a plum. In the Philippines, its special habitat is the country around the Lake of Bay.
liam-pó
A Chinese game of chance (?).
lomboy
The jambolana, a small, blue fruit with a large stone.
Malacañang
The palace of the Captain-General in Manila: from the vernacular name of the place where it stands, “fishermen’s resort.”
mankukúlam
An evil spirit causing sickness and other misfortunes, and a person possessed of such a demon.
morisqueta
Rice boiled without salt until dry, the staple food of the Filipinos.
Moro
Mohammedan Malay of southern Mindanao and Sulu.
mutya
Some object with talismanic properties, “rabbit’s foot.”
nakú
A Tagalog exclamation of surprise, wonder, etc.
nipa
Swamp-palm, with the imbricated leaves of which the roots and sides of the common Filipino houses are constructed.
nito
A climbing fern whose glossy, wiry leaves are used for making fine hats, cigar-cases, etc.
novena
A devotion consisting of prayers recited on nine consecutive days, asking for some special favor; also, a booklet of these prayers.
oy
An exclamation to attract attention, used toward inferiors and in familiar intercourse: probably a contraction of the Spanish imperative, oye, “listen!”
pakó
An edible fern.
palasan
A thick, stout variety of rattan, used for walking-sticks.
pandakaki
A low tree or shrub with small, starlike flowers.
pañuelo
A starched neckerchief folded stiffly over the shoulders, fastened in front and falling in a point behind: the most distinctive portion of the customary dress of the Filipino women.
papaya
The tropical papaw, fruit of the “melon-tree.”
paracmason
Freemason, the bête noire of the Philippine friar.
peseta
A silver coin, in value one-fifth of a peso or thirty-two cuartos.
peso
A silver coin, either the Spanish peso or the Mexican dollar, about the size of an American dollar and of approximately half its value.
piña
Fine cloth made from pineapple-leaf fibers.
proper names
The author has given a simple and sympathetic touch to his story throughout by using the familiar names commonly employed among the Filipinos in their home-life. Some of these are nicknames or pet names, such as Andong, Andoy, Choy, Neneng (“Baby”), Puté, Tinchang, and Yeyeng. Others are abbreviations or corruptions of the Christian names, often with the particle ng or ay added, which is a common practice: Andeng, Andrea; Doray, Teodora; Iday, Brigida (Bridget); Sinang, Lucinda (Lucy); Sipa, Josefa; Sisa, Narcisa; Teo, Teodoro (Theodore); Tiago, Santiago (James); Tasio, Anastasio; Tika, Escolastica; Tinay, Quintina; Tinong, Saturnino.
Provincial
Head of a religious order in the Philippines.
querida
Paramour, mistress: from the Spanish, “beloved.”
real
One-eighth of a peso, twenty cuartos.
sala
The principal room in the more pretentious Philippine houses.
salabat
An infusion of ginger.
salakot
Wide hat of palm or bamboo and rattan, distinctively Filipino.
sampaguita
The Arabian jasmine: a small, white, very fragrant flower, extensively cultivated, and worn in chaplets and rosaries by the women and girls—the typical Philippine flower.
santol
The Philippine sandal-tree.
sawali
Plaited bamboo wattle.
sinamay
A transparent cloth woven from abaka fibers.
sinigang
Water with vegetables or some acid fruit, in which fish are boiled; “fish soup.”
Susmariosep
A common exclamation: contraction of the Spanish, Jesús, María, y José, the Holy Family.
tabi
The cry of carriage drivers to warn pedestrians.
talibon
A short sword, the “war bolo.”
tapa
Jerked meat.
tapis
A piece of dark cloth or lace, often richly worked or embroidered, worn at the waist somewhat in the fashion of an apron: a distinctive portion of the native women’s attire, especially among the Tagalogs.
tarambulo
A low weed whose leaves and fruit pedicles are covered with short, sharp spines.
teniente-mayor
Senior lieutenant, the senior member of the town council and substitute for the gobernadorcillo.
tikas-tikas
A variety of canna bearing bright red flowers.
tertiary brethren
Members of a lay society affiliated with a regular monastic order, especially the Venerable Tertiary Order of the Franciscans.
timbaín
The “water-cure,” and hence, any kind of torture. The primary meaning is “to draw water from a well,” from timba, pail.
tikbálang
An evil spirit, capable of assuming various forms, but said to appear usually in the shape of a tall black man with disproportionately long legs: the “bogey man” of Tagalog children.
tulisan
Outlaw, bandit. Under the old regime in the Philippines the tulisanes were those who, on account of real or fancied grievances against the authorities, or from fear of punishment for crime, or from an instinctive desire to return to primitive simplicity, foreswore life in the towns “under the bell,” and made their homes in the mountains or other remote places. Gathered in small bands with such arms as they could secure, they sustained themselves by highway robbery and the levying of blackmail from the country folk.
zacate
Native grass used for feeding livestock.