noun · 1 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.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈhɒŋbaʊ/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌhɒŋˈbaʊ/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈhʊŋ-/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈhɔŋˌbaʊ/
General-American:/ˌhɔŋˈbaʊ/
General-American:/ˈhɑŋ-/
ho͝ong′bou′
rhymes with -aʊ (one pronunciation)
1
noun
Meaning 1
Synonym of red envelope.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: red packet, angpao, ang pao, angpow, ang pow, lai see, red envelope
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 紅包 /红包 (hóngbāo), 红包 (hóngbāo, “red envelope, red packet, hongbao”): 紅 /红, 红 (hóng, “red”) + 包 (bāo, “bag, sack; parcel, package”). Doublet of angpao and ang pow.
Across languages
Translations
33 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Burmese:
အန်ပေါင်း
(anpaung:)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Chinese Cantonese:
紅包 /红包
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Chinese Cantonese:
利市
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Chinese Cantonese:
利是
(lai6 si6)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Hakka Chinese:
紅包 /红包
(fùng-pâu)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Chinese:
紅包 /红包
(zh-min-nan)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Chinese Mandarin:
紅包 /红包
(hóngbāo)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Chinese Mandarin:
利市
(lìshì)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Chinese Mandarin:
利是
(lìshì)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Chinese Mandarin:
壓歲錢 /压岁钱
(yāsuìqián)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Czech:
červená obálka
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Dutch:
hongbao
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Finnish:
punainen kirjekuori
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
French:
enveloppe rouge
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
French:
paquet rouge
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
German:
Hong Bao
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
German:
roter Umschlag
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Indonesian:
angpau
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Japanese:
お年玉
(otoshidama)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Japanese:
祝儀袋
(shūgi-bukuro)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Khmer:
អាំងប៉ាវ
(ʼang paaw)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Khmer:
តេកអៀ
(teek ʼiə)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Korean:
세뱃돈
(sebaetdon)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Malay:
angpau
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Mon:
ထိုၚ်လိက်အရံၚ်ဍာဲ
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Portuguese:
envelope vermelho
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Russian:
кра́сный конве́рт
(krásnyj konvért)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Spanish:
sobre rojo
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Tagalog:
ampaw
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Thai:
อั่งเปา
(àng-bpao)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Thai:
แต๊ะเอีย
(dtɛ́-iia)
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Vietnamese:
lì xì
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
Vietnamese:
phong bao mừng tuổi
— decorated paper envelope, traditionally red, containing a gift of money presented during special occasions; the gift of money presented in such an envelope
