datu
Americannoun
plural
datu, datusEtymology
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Along the sides of the room are elevated box-like enclosures in which the datu and some of his wives and daughters sleep and keep their belongings.
From The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Cole, Fay-Cooper
This is the home of the local datu or ruler.
From The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Cole, Fay-Cooper
They are carried into the house and are fastened near to the elevated platform at the end of the room where the datu or leading magani stands ready to sacrifice a chicken.
From The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Cole, Fay-Cooper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
