Word.ws English Dictionary

balikbayan

balikbayan noun: a Filipino returning to the Philippines after spending time in another country.

Noun

balikbayan (plural balikbayans)

  1. (Philippines) A Filipino returning to the Philippines after spending time in another country.
    • 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
    • 2 balikbayans kidnapped in Zamboanga City.2011, Philippine Daily Inquirer, (headline), 12 July

Forms of balikbayan

pluralbalikbayans

Origin of balikbayan

From Tagalog balikbayan, from balik (“to return”) + bayan (“home country”).

Words formed from balikbayan

Questions about balikbayan

What does balikbayan mean?
Balikbayan means a Filipino returning to the Philippines after spending time in another country.
What part of speech is balikbayan?
Balikbayan is a noun.
What is the plural of balikbayan?
The plural of balikbayan is balikbayans.

Words near balikbayan in the dictionary

  1. Baliis
  2. Balija
  3. Balijas
  4. Balijuagan
  5. balik kampung
  6. balikbayan
  7. balikbayan box
  8. balikbayans
  9. Balikesir
  10. Balikian
  11. Balikians

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: balikbayan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “balikbayan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/balikbayan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.