balikbayan means A Filipino returning to the Philippines after spending time in another country. It carries an Arena rating of 1500, earned across 26 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, balikbayan ranks #2,367 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #4,441 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #5,303 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,450 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
Why “balikbayan” is a great word
BALIKBAYAN — [Noun] A Filipino returning to the Philippines after a period of residence in another country. From Tagalog balikbayan, from balik ("to return") + bayan ("town, country, homeland"). Unlike "expatriate," which neutrally denotes any citizen living abroad, or "OFW," which specifies a Filipino currently laboring overseas, balikbayan is a word of homecoming, defined by its vector toward the archipelago. It is the scent of sampaguita and jet fuel in the arrival hall, the ritual of the suitcase overstuffed with pasalubong, and the quiet ache of seeing your childhood street through the eyes of a stranger—a title conferred not by where you are, but by the act of turning back.
Etymology
From Tagalog balikbayan, from balik (“to return”) + bayan (“home country”).
noun
- A Filipino returning to the Philippines after spending time in another country.e.g.“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:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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