Standard Lemma guide

towkay

noun · 2 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.

  • /ˈt̪au̯.keɪ/
  • /ˈt̪hau̯.keɪ/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A business owner; boss (especially a Chinese Malaysian or Chinese Singaporean boss).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Malaysia, Singapore

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Term of address for a business owner boss.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Malaysia, Singapore

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: taoke, boss, sir, ma'am

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Hokkien 頭家 /头家 (thâu-ke, “boss”). Doublet of taoke.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese: 頭家 /头家 (zh-min-nan) — business owner
  • Chinese Mandarin: 老板 (lǎobǎn) — business owner
  • Indonesian: tauke — business owner
  • Malay: tokeh — business owner
  • Malay: tauke — business owner
  • Tagalog: taoke — business owner
  • Tausug: tawki — business owner
  • Thai: เถ้าแก่ (tâo-gɛ̀ɛ) — business owner