Meanings
Origin
- Tagalogkanto“corner, especially of two streets”
- Englishkanto girl
From kanto boy, but the latter term was replaced with girl as a female equivalent, whereas the former term was originally from Japanese 官庁(かんちょう) (kanchō, “government office”), borrowed in the Philippines during WW2 according to Potet (2016), but it was eventually replaced with Tagalog kanto (“corner, especially of two streets”), which was reinterpreted to refer to an "office corner".
More words from Tagalog
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
kanto girl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kanto%20girl
“kanto girl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kanto%20girl. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kanto girl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kanto%20girl.
Source: kanto girl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.