datu

American  

[dah-too] / ˈdɑ tu /

noun

• datu,
  plural
• datus
  plural

1. (in the Philippines) a Native chief.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• datu
  plural
• datus
  plural

Etymology

Origin of datu

First recorded in 1925–30; from Tagalog datu, dato “landowner, head of a clan or tribe”; akin to dato ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

datu datus

He says the chests were given to him by a datu, or tribal chief.

From BusinessWeek ● Jan. 18, 2012

Therefore they must wait until every datu from the farthest Moro island had arrived.

From Time Magazine Archive

Under him the tribe became strong and all the other datu feared him.

From The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Fay-Cooper Cole

Each district has its head man, or petty datu who is supposed to be subject to the datu of Cibolan.

From The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Fay-Cooper Cole

After all a sultan or datu had his position and authority which had come down to him through generations and his religion which had been taught him from birth.

From The Career of Leonard Wood by Joseph Hamblen Sears

On the same day that the National Assembly met in Manila the datus assembled at Jolo, determined to make Rajamuda Sultan.

From Time Magazine Archive

Many Moro datus, maharajahs, panglimas and imams retired to their secret strongholds to prepare for the struggle.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Ruma Bechara, however, in consequence of the complaints of many powerful datus, was enlarged; but the more powerful, and those who have the largest numerical force of slaves, still rule over its deliberations.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century, Volume XLIII, 1670-1700 by Various

The Ruma Bechara was then reduced until it contained but six of the principal datus, who assumed the power of controlling the state.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century, Volume XLIII, 1670-1700 by Various

Before the Spanish occupation there were in the Philippines many petty kingdoms headed by native princes known as datus.

From Filipino Popular Tales by Dean Spruill Fansler