The story
- Mandarin · borrowed from紅包 /红包
- English todayhongbao
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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.