Iba ka rin. [ee ba´ ka rin´] To mean you’re different. Usually a neutral comment, but it can sarcastically mean, you’re weird!

Ibaba. [ee bah bah´] The imperative verb that means
lower it while the noun (stress on the same syllable) means the one below.

Ibabaw. [ee ba´ baw] On top of. For a fee, some government employees will put

[sa] ibabaw your documents to expedite the process. It’ still a bribe, but
some may argue it is merely a facilitation fee.

Ikaw. [ee kaw´] Means you. Another of those two-syllable words babies pick up quickly when they are learning to talk. Ikaw is a popular love ballad sung by love-struck swains during a harana (serenade).

Ibon. [ee´bon] Bird. Philippine birds are world famous. The monkey-eating eagle is the world’s largest bird.

Ikot. [ee´kot] Encircle. At the University of the Philippines, the ikot jeepneys are the shuttle vehicles students use to get around the campus. Toki is the same route with jeeps running the opposite direction.I don’t know to you. Ayayay! We mean ewan ko sa iyo which should have been said instead!

Ihaw. [ee´haw] To roast over an open flame. Ihaw is also a noun to mean the object being grilled. A healthy, popular way to eat anything. But don’t overdo it because experts say too much burnt stuff causes cancer.

lang-ilang. [ee´lang-ee´lang] A tall tree with fragrant yellow-green flowers. The flower’s oil is extracted and used as perfume essence. Once, while traveling through Tarlac province, we smelled the ilang-ilang’s exotic scent. It turned out we were in Ramos, where as a cottage industry, townspeople cultivate the flowers to exact the oils.

Ilista sa tubig. [ee lis tah´ sah too´ big] Write it down on water to mean debt forgiveness.

locano. [ee loh kah´ noh] Natives of Northwestern Luzon or Ilocos. Many of these hardworking and thrify people had to leave their arid, inhospitable lands. They were the Pinoy pioneers who found work in Hawaiian plantations, Alaskan
canneries, and California farms.

Ilonggo. [ee long´goh] The natives of the Negros provinces and the island of Panay. Known for the soft, melodious dialect of the same name. The Negros provinces have many sugarcane plantations.

Illustrado. [ee lus´tra doh’] The Spanish and Filipino-Spanish elite. They were usually big land owners (hacienderos), who had big stone mansions (bahay na bato) found in the center of town. They sent their sons to Europe to study, while their daughters prepared for marriage. Read Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo for details.

Ilog [ee´log] A river. We’d look forward to picnics by the river in our grandmother’s hometown.  Her tenants had a banquet waiting on banana leaves set among the smooth stones. It was a thrill to eat and dip one’s toes in the cold mountain water. Not anymore. The river is dead, polluted by the pig and poultry farms found upstream.

Ils de tul. [eels´ de tool] The cute name given to ilalim ng tulay, a series of small stores built under an overpass in Quiapo. Native products are still cheaper there than at Greenhills.

ma. [ee mah´] Mother in the Kapangpangan dialect spoken in the province of Pampanga and parts of Tarlac province.

Imo. [ee moh’] Yourself in the Visayan dialect.
Impacho. [im pah´cho] Indigestion. Stomach pains and the runs because of eating
too much.

Ina or inay. [ee na´/ee nay´] Mother. The Philippines is a matriarchal society. Disagree with us if you might, but it’s women who’ve raised their kids single-handedly while holding full-time jobs. They’ve either lost their husbands to jobs abroad, alcohol, other women, or the hubby’s laziness. Filipino mothers will become washer women, factory workers, and even GROs just so that their children will have the necessities of life.

Inaanak. [ee nah´ah nuk] A godchild is the noun while the verb is to be the godparent of.

Inday. [in´die] A generic woman’s name popular in the Visayas. Similar to Girlie in English. Use to call someone whose name you don’t know. Maybe shortened to ‘Day (pronounced die) Diyos ko ‘Day! is like my goodness, gracious! but more irrevent since Diyos means God.

Indio. [in´dyoh] What the Spaniards called us natives. We were third class citizens in our own country. Worse, those who tried to right it were falsely accused. Take Jose Rizal’s mom. She was unjustly imprisoned and had to walk hours as part of her punishment. It was very traumatic for her young son.+ing. [+ing] Added to the end of many first names to form nicknames, giving them a rural flair. Teresa becomes Tering or Gloria becomes Gloring.

Ingat! [ee´ ngut] Pinoy version of take care! Inggit. [ing git´] Jealousy, envy.  Pinoys have been known to rat on their fellow nationals to US
immigrations just because they envy the victims. Ironically, the denouncers may have been once illegal  themselves. An inggitera/o is the jealous one—usually the snitch and loser.

Inintrega. [ee nin´tre ga] To have asked a trusted person to take care of someone or something. From the Spanish entrega which means to deliver or hand over. Like you don’t entrust a bag of fudge to your chocaholic wife.

Inis. [ee nis´] As a verb to mean annoy; as a noun to mean
annoyance. Inis can also mean a more intense feeling of
annoyance—more like a deep-seated hurt or wound.

Init. [ee´nit] Can mean heat or warmth. The tropical sun shines generously here, so that hardly anyone gets  bone cancer. Init can also mean an issue is getting hot or popular.

[Nag] iintindi. [ee´in tin dee´] To be sensitive to the person and one’s needs. .
Intindihan. [In tin´dee han] To understand. With more than 400 languages and dialects in the country, understanding and speaking each other’s
lingo is unfortunately out of the question.

Ipa. [ee pah´] The husk of milled rice used as a soil or fertilizer additive. In the rural areas, rice husk is used to coat big blocks of ice to delay it from melting.

Ipil-ipil. [ee´pil-ee´pil] A tall tree with large brown pods that contain almond-shaped seeds a little bigger than a grain of rice. In the 1970’s it was touted as a possible animal feed additive, or even as a biofuel. But our
government scientists didn’t do their research, and the scheme fell through.

Ipis. [ee´pis] Roaches. There are a lot of these awful pre-historic insects that thrive in our tropical environment. They say if there is worldwide nuclear annihilation, only these sturdy creatures will remain.

Ipon. [ee´pon] To save, to accumulate. Our elders kept money under the bed, in hollowed-out coconut shells, or within hollow bamboo poles, until banking became fashionable. They knew how to delay their gratification. Today it’s wanting it now, and getting it now—even if one has to borrow or use a credit card.

Irog. [ee´rog] The beloved. An old-fashioned word used in many kundimans (love ballads). Our dad would some times call his first and only love, irog, which thrilled us to no end.

“I shall return.” Famous promise of Gen. Douglas C. MacArthur when he left the country with President Manuel Quezon just before World War II’s end. The promise was kept and the Philippines was liberated from the Japanese in 1944.

Isa. [ee sa´] The number one. Not to he confused with una (from Spanish) which means first.

Isang bala ka lang. [ee sang´ ba´la ka lang´] You’re worth only one bullet, a favorite line of Pinoy actors in action movies.

Isang kayod, isang tuka. [ee sang´ ka´yod ee sang´ too ka´] Our version of hand to mouth. Tuka is the way a chicken pecks at grain.

Isaw. [ee´sao] The intestines of a pig or chicken grilled to perfection, according
to those who relish this exotic snack food. Our son swears that the best isaw can be found at the University of the Philippines’ main campus, sold by the
Catholic church.

Isda. [is dah´] A fish or to fish. As a country of 7,111 islands, we surely have the best-tasting fish. Enthusiasts also love to scuba dive in our waters because of the diversity of marine life. Most fishermen have finally got it that dynamite fishing not only kills their livelihood, but spoils the environment.

Isip. [ee´sip] A typical Filipino word that can be used as a verb and a noun. It means thought/thoughts or occasionally the mind. It can also mean to think.  Walang isip means brainless, impulsive or erratic.

Istambay. [ees tam´bay] From stand by. The older brother of canto boy (boy by the corner). He loiters anywhere, preferably where there are pretty girls.

Itak. [ee tak´] A large knife, a bolo. Part of a Filipino farmer’s chic outfit: a wide-brimmed hat, tokong (now called capri by the fashion conscious), a t-shirt (preferably with long sleeves to protect one for the elements), Japanese sandals, and an itak tucked in the belt by one’s side.

Itik. [ee tik´] A duck. Its larger and tastier eggs make them best for salted ones.  Duck-raising is a favorite backyard industry.

Itim. [ee tim´] The color black. Like in English, it can describe an object, or a mood or a situation.

Itlog. [it log´] An egg.  Can also mean to lay an egg. Sometimes used figuratively to mean zero.

Ito. [ee toh´] Our word for this.  Also abbreviated as ‘to.

It’s up for you. Pinoy way of saying it’s up to you. Remember please, that English is not our first language!

IUD. Not the contraceptive, but the intestines of pigs, cows and chicken ( shaped like IUDs) cooked as street food.

Iwas. [ee was´] To avoid; to escape from. There are two sides to iwas. A good one is when one tries to avoid undisciplined pedestrians while driving. A bad iwas is escaping from paying one’s taxes—a crime because if you have enough to be taxed, you have enough to pay your dues.

Iyak. [ee yak´] A verb to mean to cry and as a noun to mean a crying spell .

Iyo. [ee yoh´] This means yours in the singular form. We say inyo for the plural form or when addressing an older person.

To find other definitions, please press the first letter of the word: