MANILA, Philippines — Eleven Filipino words were added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its March 2025 update.
In a commentary posted on its website, the Oxford English Dictionary explained: “Often, when we talk about untranslatable words, what we are actually talking about are words that have been lexicalized in one language but not in others, which is what makes them particularly intriguing.”
“For people who speak English alongside other languages, there is an easy way to fill such a lexical gap — simply borrowing the untranslatable word from another language,” it added.
READ: 40 Filipino-coined words now in Oxford dictionary
Eight of the Philippine English words were added as new entries. They were defined as the following:
CR – “A toilet; a lavatory; cf. comfort room n.”
Gigil – (As a noun) “An intense feeling caused by anger, eagerness, or the pleasure of seeing someone or something cute or adorable, typically physically manifested by the tight clenching of hands, gritting of the teeth, trembling of the body, or the pinching or squeezing of the person or thing causing this emotion;” (As an adjective) “Of a person: overwhelmed by an intense feeling caused by anger, eagerness, or the pleasure of seeing someone or something cute or adorable”
Kababayan – “A fellow Filipino; one’s fellow Filipino. Also: a person from the same Philippine region or town as another; A small, sweet cake, similar to a muffin, typically yellow in colour and having the shape of a salakot (salakot n.)”
Lumpia – “In East and Southeast Asian cookery: any of various types of spring roll, typically consisting of a very thin pancake filled with minced meat, seafood, or vegetables, rolled into a cylinder (and sometimes deep-fried), and served with a dipping sauce”
Salakot – “A type of lightweight Filipino hat traditionally worn by farmers as protection against the weather, typically domed or conical in shape, with a wide brim, and often having a spiked or ornamental finial at the tip of the crown”
Sando – “A sleeveless garment worn under or instead of a shirt; a vest”
Thomasite – “An American teacher in the Philippines during the period of American occupation (1899–1946); esp. one belonging to the first group of teachers who arrived on the U.S. Army Transport Thomas in 1901, tasked with establishing a new public school system, teaching basic education, and training Filipino teachers, using English as the primary language of instruction”
Videoke – “A form of entertainment popular in bars, at parties, etc., in which a person sings the vocal line of a popular song to the accompaniment of a pre-recorded backing tape while following the lyrics which appear on a screen in time with the music. Also: the equipment used for this. Frequently as a modifier, esp. in videoke bar. Cf. karaoke n.”
Meanwhile, three of the Philippine English words were added to the dictionary as new definitions of existing words as follows:
Load – “Credit purchased for a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. Cf. load v. Additions”
Terror – “Of a teacher: strict, harsh, demanding”
Pinoy – (As an adjective) “Of, belonging to, or relating to the Philippines or Filipinos”
The Oxford English Dictionary was first proposed in 1857 as the “New English Dictionary” by the Philological Society, an organization for the scholarly study of language based in London, United Kingdom.