Standard Lemma guide
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
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.
noun
boss; owner (of a business entity such as shop, etc.); shop owner; shopkeeper; business owner; employer (especially a Chinese Filipino boss)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Philippines
Qualifier: Chinese Filipino
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
term of address for a business owner boss (especially a Chinese Filipino boss)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Philippines
Qualifier: Chinese Filipino
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: towkay, boss, sir, ma'am
Antonyms: none provided
History
Borrowed from Hokkien 頭家 /头家 (thâu-ke, “boss”). Doublet of towkay. Compare Tagalog taoke, Tausug tawki, Malay tauke, Indonesian tauke, Burmese ထောင်ကဲ (htaungkai:), Puyuma tawki, Rukai tawki, Sakizaya tawki.
