robot

From English robot, from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”). Coined in the 1921 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek after having been suggested to him by his brother Josef.

a style of dance popular in disco whereby the dancer impersonates the movement of a robot


gold

Borrowed from English gold, from Middle English gold, from Old English gold (“gold”), from Proto-Germanic *gulþą (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰl̥tóm (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“yellow; gleam; to shine”).

der

(fantasy roleplaying games board games) miscellaneous unit of currency in fantasy genre


flower

Unadapted borrowing from English flower.

(mahjong) act of declaring and revealing a flower or season tile and in order drawing a replacement tile


salsa

any of several dances performed to salsa music


alas

(card games) an ace; a card with a single spot


mal

Borrowed from Spanish mal, apocopic form of malo (“evil”).


pik

to pick an it; to take turns picking a team or members of a team using rock paper scissors


mate

(chess) to checkmate; to put the king of an opponent into checkmate


pagan

(games, of marbles) to hit the adjacent marble with the target marble


pasko

From Spanish pascua, from Vulgar Latin pascua, from Latin pascha, from Ancient Greek πάσχα (páskha, “Passover”), from Aramaic פסחא (paskha), from Hebrew פסח (pesakh).


hula

Borrowed from English hula, from Hawaiian hula.

hula; a form of chant and dance, which was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there


standing

in bato lata; an instance where the can is standing upright and, still in play, after being hit and pushed out of its ring


yoyo

From English yo-yo / yoyo. Formerly a trademark. Most likely from Ilocano yóyo.

a yo-yo; a toy consisting of a spheroidal or cylindrical spindle having a circular groove in which string is wound; it is used by holding the string in the fingers and reeling the spindle up and down by movements of the wrist

a cake that is shaped like a yoyo, akin to a cookie sandwich, often purple and with a margarine filling and rolled in white sugar


mata

Antonio Pigafetta
Magellan's circumnavigation

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *mata, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *mata, from Proto-Austronesian *maCa.
First attested in Antonio Pigafetta's Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo—detailing the first circumnavigation of the world between 1519 and 1522.

Pigafetta

(mahjong) the extra pair of tiles in most winning hands


papel

(rock paper scissors) an open hand (handshape resembling a sheet of paper), that beats rock and loses to scissors


kaon

káon (canonical)
mo- (affix)
kaon (root)
actor
mag- (affix)
kaon (root)
actor
maka- (affix)
kaon (root)
actor
mang- (affix)
kaon (root)
actor
-on (affix)
kaon (root)
ma- (affix)
kaon (root)
actor
-an (affix)
kaon (root)

ceb-infl-table

kaon

kaon

kaon

kaon

kaon

kaon

kaon

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaən, from Proto-Austronesian *kaən. Compare Tagalog kain.

inh+

(games) to take a man in games of chess, checkers, etc.


obispo

Borrowed from Spanish obispo (“bishop”).


tako

a cue; the stick used to ptopel the ball in snooker, billards, etc.


jai alai

From English jai alai, from Spanish, from Basque jai (“festival”) + alai (“merry”).

an illegal lottery based on the scores of jai alai games


paso

Borrowed from Spanish paso, from Latin passus.

(bingo) an instance where a player fails to declare a bingo


paso

(bingo) to fail to declare or call a bingo


hari

(card games) a playing card with the letter "K" and the image of a king on it, the thirteenth card in a given suit


bato

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *batu, from Proto-Austronesian *batu. Compare Fijian vatu, Hawaiian haku, Hiligaynon bato, Indonesian batu, Kapampangan batu, Malagasy vato, Malay batu and Maori whatu.
The sense of "kidney" is a semantic loan from Tagalog bato.

piece in chess, checkers, sungka or similar games


bato

bato-bato

anchor; sinker; stone used in artificial jewelry

pamato

anchor; sinker; anchorman in a relay; best bet; spending money


buwan

in bato lata, in an event of a standing, to use the buwan as an attack line


gunting

[ˈɡun̪.t̪ɪŋ]

Likely from Malay gunting, ultimately likely a loan from some non-Austronesian source, such as Chinese [Term?], according to Blust (2010-2020).

(rock paper scissors) a hand with the index and middle fingers open (a handshape resembling scissors), that beats paper and loses to rock


balising

(games) to move something away from obstructions


debu

From English debut, from French début, from Middle French, derivative of débuter (“to move, begin”), from dé- + but (“mark, goal”), from Old French but (“aim, goal, end, target”), from Old French butte (“mound, knoll, target”), from Frankish *but (“stump, log”), or from Old Norse bútr (“log, stump, butt”); both from Proto-Germanic *butą (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeud- (“to beat, push”).


ahedres

Borrowed from Spanish ajedrez (“chess”).


samin

Borrowed from Malay cermin (cf. Tagalog salamin, Ilocano sarming).


tisas

to apply chalk at the dnc of the cuestick


inin

Short for get in, the command signaling the start of the game. From English in, from Middle English in, from Old English in, from Proto-Germanic *in, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én.

a game where one team attempts to clear sections of a field while the members of the opposing side, with arms outstretched, try to guard their designated line


sayaw

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *sayaw (“to make movements”).

inh+

[ˈs̪a.d͡ʒɐʊ̯]

a dance; a sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music


balut

Reborrowed from English balut, from Cebuano balut. Credited to Edgar Woolbright.


wakwak

Onomatopoeic; named after its supposed call.


utog

From Proto-Philippine *qútuʀ (“erection of the penis”).


bulbol

Derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bulu. Sense 3 is after the Chinese character being likened to pubic hair.


pusil-pusil

Reduplication of pusil (“a firearm, a gun”).


takyan

a weighted shuttlecock usually made of a plain washer attached to feathers, plastic straw rope or plastic candy wrapper


kurikit

a game similar to kick the can; where the it finds and tags the other players by calling out "kurikit" preceded or followed by the tagged person's name, the captured player can be saved by kicking or tipping the can


polis dunggab

a variation of hide and seek, where the it finds and tags the other person by yelling "bang!". the tagged person can be saved by touching the it (or as if acting out a stabbing) and calling out "tsak!"


indayinday

a stinkbug; a common name applied to various insects of the Hemiptera order (the "true bugs"), in the Heteroptera suborder, principally in the superfamilies Pentatomoidea and Coreoidea


tigulang

[t̪ɪˈɡu.l̪ɐŋ]


hantak

heads or tails, usually as a form of illegal gambling


kamunggay

[kɐˈmuŋ.ɡɐɪ̯]

Probably Tamil முருங்கை (muruṅkai, “drumstick”), from the shape of the fruits. Compare malunggay.
Sense "clover", after its resemblance to the leaves of


bagol

From Proto-Bisayan *bagúl. Compare Hiligaynon bagol (“skull”). The game is named after its previous use of coconut shells and stones.

game where two opposing players, usually girls, take turns attempting to hit the other player's flip-flop


bagolbagol

a game where two opposing players, usually girls, take turns attempting to hit the other player's flip-flop


drayb

From English drive, from Middle English driven, from Old English drīfan, from Proto-Germanic *drībaną (“to drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreybʰ- (“to drive, push”), from *dʰer- (“cloudy, dirty, muddy”).

der

(mahjong) to take over a mahjong game; to temporarily replace a player


ungo-ungo

(playground games) a variation of tag or hide and seek, where the it pretends to be a ghost or monster


eskalira

From Spanish escalera, from Old Spanish escalera, from Late Latin scālāria, from Latin scālae (“steps”).

(card games) a running flush, a straight flush or a royal flush

(mahjong) a pure straight hand; a hand of three consecutive chows in the same suit, making a nine-tile straight


rayna

[ˈɾ̪aɪ̯.n̪ɐ]


kristo

From Kristo, from Spanish Cristo, from Latin Christus, from Ancient Greek Χριστός (Khristós), proper noun use of χριστός (khristós, “the anointed one”), a calque of Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (māshīaχ, “anointer”).

(gambling) bet collector in cockfighting


dampa

a game where two or more people will aim to move a stack of rubber bands pass a service line or off an edge


dampa

to attempt to move something using a burst of air by strucking a flat surface against a dome created using a person's two hands


apirapir

trading cards; especially when used in this game


bato lata

bato (“stone, rock”) (“to stone, to throw stones at”) + lata (“can”)

a game similar to the medieval children's game Duck on a Rock


lupa-langit

a variation of hot lava where an it would chase players who step on the ground


tsinelasay

a children's game where two or more players race slippers or flip-flops to the finish line


esteping

Borrowed from English stepping, present participle of step.

(sports, games) to step on or over a line. (violation)


santilmo

From Spanish fuego de Santelmo or fuego de san Telmo.


sugarol

[s̪ʊ.ɡɐˈɾ̪ol̪]

Borrowed from Early Modern Spanish jugador (“player”).


sugarol

[s̪ʊ.ɡɐˈɾ̪ol̪]

afflicted with or suffering from problem gambling


bolador

(bingo) a caller; the person who stands at the front of the hall and announces the numbers


pass bao

a variation of punch buggy; a game where players race to spot a passing or parked Volkswagen beetle. at the sight of the vehicle, players salute and call out, "Pass bao!" failure to salute or placing last is punished by a knock or smack in the head


pilitpilit

a game similar to tag and hot lava where players touch wooden items to avoid getting tagged


karnabal

(mahjong) hand consisting of eight pairs


bantay hari

in bato lata; an it who would rather keep a tight watch on the can than chase and catch other players


balay ni Tarsan

a figure, likened to a house or tree house, formed using a rubber band


brip ni Tarsan

a triangular figure formed using a rubber band


ulo sa Voltes V

Literally, “the Voltes V's head”. Named after the robot in the anime Chōdenji Machine Voltes V.

a figure, likened to the Voltes V's head, formed using a rubber band


ulo ni Voltes V

Literally, “Voltes V's head”. Named after the robot in the anime Chōdenji Machine Voltes V.


kargaburo

[kɐɾ̪.ɡɐˈbu.ɾ̪o]

a card game, similar to burro, where players try to get rid of cards by following suit


slipper game

a game similar to baseball or kickball, where players kick flip-flops


tigso

the speckled reed warbler (Acrocephalus sorghophilus)


ten twenty

a variant of the Chinese jump rope where players jump over or step on a Chinese garter, that has been tied into a circle, while counting to one hundred in increments of ten


Chinese garter

Chinese garter; Chinese jump rope (long narrow rubber garter band strip)

(playground games) Chinese garter; Chinese jump rope (game)


ulingay

a wager in card games where losers are punished by having their faces smeared with powdered charcoal


tira hago

a rule in bato lata, that an it may invoke, that prevents players in the attacking line from tipping the can while the it is away chasing other players who have picked up their slippers


padidit

a sledding game using coconut palm fronds to slide downhill


enter hago

a rule in games where joiners are automatically relegated as it


undang dakol

a rule in games where a quitter is smacked or knocked in the head, by the other players, before he or she is allowed to leave the game


floweran

(mahjong) the pile where a replacement tile is drawn after declaring a flower


tandaytanday

a game where players take turns throwing rubber bands forwards from a throwing line; if a player lands his or her rubber band on top of another player's rubber band, he or she gets to keep it


tag-anay paganda

a game where players guess the product being advertised during a television commercial break


tugot

to release more string in order for the kite to fly higher


lambador

a game where one team attempts to clear sections of a field while the members of the opposing side, with arms outstretched, try to guard their designated line


pamugas

pa- + bugas. Rice (“bugas”) being the staple of the Philippines.


lingaw-lingaw

[l̪ɪˌŋaʊ̯ ˈl̪i.ŋɐʊ̯]

(gambling) to play for fun, not for winning


pamugasay

(often derogatory, humorous) one who plays like gambling is their bread and butter


pamasin

the act of gambling with very little, barely enough, money to wager


mamords

(of a woman) buxom; having a full, voluptuous figure, especially possessing large breasts


pitpit

(mahjong) the sparrow tile; the one-bamboo tile


bilyar

Borrowed from Spanish billar, from French billard.


inutok

(sarcasm, gambling, of an opponent) taking too long to make a move, as if every move is calculated


shomoy

the act of shooting a marble in a hole in the ground


tigdula

(gaming, video games) a gamer; a gamester


magdudula

[mɐɡ.d̪ʊˈd̪u.l̪ɐʔ]

mag- + dula, with partial reduplication.


jolen

Probably from English hole in. Compare Tagalog holen.

a marble; small spherical ball of rock, glass, ceramic or metal used in games and races


siyete pares

(mahjong) a hand consisting of seven pairs and a triple


bintos

(mahjong) the flower, season, wind and dragon tiles collectively


hinol

(mahjong) to attempt to guess a drawn tile by feeling the suit and value using the middle finger


sagasa

(mahjong) an instance of drawing the fourth tile of one's pung


hulahula

From English hula-hula, from Hawaiian hula.

hula; a form of chant and dance, which was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there


tang-an

a hustler; somebody who pretends to be an amateur at a game in order to win bets


tang-an

(derogatory) characteristic of a hustler


damath

damath; a board game combining checkers and arithmetic


polispolis

a variation of tag where the it pretends to be a cop


pusilpusil

Reduplication of pusil (“a firearm, a gun”).

a pretend gunfight; a game where children play with toy guns


mardyoret

→ English: marjoret


butikaw, butikaw, ikaw

eeny, meeny, miny, moe
eeny, meeny, miny, moe

a children's counting-out game similar to eeny, meeny, miny, moe


tsek

From English check, from Middle English chek, chekke, borrowed from Old French eschek, eschec, eschac, from Medieval Latin scaccus, borrowed from Arabic شَاه (šāh), borrowed from Persian شاه (šâh, “king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (šāh), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /xšāyaθiya/, “king”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kšáyati (“he rules, he has power over”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to gain power over, gain control over”).

der

(chess) to check; to make a move which puts an adversary's piece, especially the king, in check; to put in check


onseonse

a basketball shooting game where players race to score eleven points first


pabitay

a frame of bamboo latticework where candies or toys are tied in the party game of the same name


buak kulon

a game of piñata using an earthen cooking pot


kobrador

Borrowed from Spanish cobrador. By surface analysis, kobra (“act of collecting debts”) + -dor.

surf

(gambling) bet collector (esp. in jueteng)


kara krus

[ˌka.ɾ̪ɐ ˈkɾ̪us̪]

heads or tails, usually as a form of illegal gambling