balikbayan

B3A1L1I1K5B3A1Y4A1N1

noun

A Filipino returning to the Philippines after spending time in another country.

OriginTagalog balikbayan →
First used 20th c.Scrabble 21
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Meanings

nounbalikbayan (plural balikbayans)

plural balikbayans

  1. PhilippinesA Filipino returning to the Philippines after spending time in another country.First known use 20th c.

    2 balikbayans kidnapped in Zamboanga City.

    2011, Philippine Daily Inquirer, (headline), 12 July
    2 more examples

    It's the time of year when balikbayans descend upon us in droves Ito remind us of how benighted we are.

    1990, Conrado De Quiros, Flowers from the rubble, page 139

    This dual citizenship enables him to return to the Philippines as a balikbayan.

    2015, Elaine Marie Carbonell Laforteza, The Somatechnics of Whiteness and Race, page 132

Origin

  1. Tagalogbalikbayan
  2. Englishbalikbayan

From Tagalog balikbayan, from balik (“to return”) + bayan (“home country”).

More words from Tagalog

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

balikbayan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balikbayan

MLA

“balikbayan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balikbayan. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “balikbayan,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balikbayan.

Source: balikbayan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.