bilo-bilo

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• bilobilo — obsolete
• bilubilo, bilu-bilo

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /biˌlo biˈlo/ [bɪˌlo bɪˈlo]
• Rhymes: -o
• Syllabification: bi‧lo-bi‧lo

Etymology 1

Reduplication of bilo (“act of shaping kneaded flour or rice flour into ball-shaped lumps”), which is possibly from Hokkien either:

• 米粩 (bí-láu, “confection made from rice”), according to Manuel (1948).
• 米糯 (bí lō, literally “glutinous rice”), according to Chan-Yap (1980).

Noun

biló-biló (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜎᜓᜊᜒᜎᜓ)

1. glutinous rice balls (eaten with ginatan)

   Synonyms: (Bulacan, Nueva Ecija) palarusdos, (Southern Tagalog) pinaltok, (Batangas, Mindoro) pinindot, (Cavite, Batangas) palairos, (Quezon) hulog-hulog

Derived terms

• magbilo-bilo

Etymology 2

Reduplication of possibly either bilo (“cylindrical roll”) or Spanish velo (“veil”).

Noun

biló-biló (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜎᜓᜊᜒᜎᜓ)

1. (nautical, obsolete) sheet (of a sail)
2. (architecture) awning sheet

   Synonyms: habong, lambong

Further reading

• “bilo-bilo”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de, Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860) Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves‎^[1] (in Spanish), Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier
• Panganiban, José Villa (1973) Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles (overall work in Tagalog and English), Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co., page 163
• Chan-Yap, Gloria (1980) “Hokkien Chinese borrowings in Tagalog”, in Pacific Linguistics, volume B, number 71 (PDF), Canberra, A.C.T. 2600.: The Australian National University, page 137
• Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948) Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 17