Standard Lemma guide

bao

name · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /baʊ/
  • bou
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B AW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any of various types of steamed bread or bun used in Chinese cuisine

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A sandwich or stuffed bun made with this bread

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A mancala board game played in East Africa.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Initialism of baryon acoustic oscillation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 包 (bāo) or Cantonese 包 (baau1). Cognate of Vietnamese bánh bao.

Borrowed from Swahili bao.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: бао (bao) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Burmese: ပေါက်စီ (paukci) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Chinese Cantonese: 包 (baau1) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Chinese Cantonese: 包子 (baau1 zi2) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Chinese: бозы (bozɨ) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Chinese: 包仔 (zh-min-nan) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Chinese Mandarin: 包子 (bāozi) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Indonesian: pau — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Indonesian: bakpao — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Japanese: 包子 (paozu) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Japanese: パオズ (paozu) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Japanese: 焼包 — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Japanese: シャオパオ — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Japanese: バインバオ — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Japanese: 中華まん (chūkaman) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Korean: 바오쯔 (baojjeu) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Korean: 바인 바오 (bain bao) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Malay: pau — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Mongolian: бууз (buuz) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Polish: baozi — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Russian: ба́оцзы (báoczy) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Tagalog: siopao — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Thai: ซาลาเปา (saa-laa-bpao) — Chinese steamed stuffed bun
  • Vietnamese: bánh bao — Chinese steamed stuffed bun