Glossary - Page 3 of 5

(English version of “Noli Me Tangere”)

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.
kaingin
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 night-time, 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.
mankukúlan
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.

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