tong lau

noun

A tenement building, found in Southern China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

OriginCantonese 唐樓 /唐楼 →
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Meanings

nountong lau (plural tong laus)

plural tong laus

  1. A tenement building, found in Southern China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

    Mr. Clifford is one of a handful of small-scale developers who renovate apartments in the old tong lau-style tenements and walk-up residential buildings built in Hong Kong from the 1940s through the 1970s.

    2010 May 27, Alex Frew McMillan, “Breathing Life, and Cash, Into Hong Kong's Old Walk-Ups”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 May 2010, Great Homes & Destinations

Origin

  1. Cantonese唐樓 /唐楼
  2. Englishtong lau

From Cantonese 唐樓 /唐楼 (tong4 lau4-2).

More words from Cantonese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tong lau. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tong%20lau

MLA

“tong lau.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tong%20lau. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tong lau,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tong%20lau.

Source: tong lau on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.