Pinay

Pinoy is recorded as early as the 1920s, referring especially to a Filipino immigrant. It comes from Tagalog (the principal language of the Philippines), formed from the last four letters of Filipino plus -y, a diminutive suffix for names in the language. Pinay is similarly formed from Filipina, or a woman from the Philippines, and is recorded since at least the 1970s.

Discover more words in Tagalog in our article, “English Words That Came From The Philippines.”

While Pinay has seen some pejorative use due to the history of Filipino immigration, it has largely become adopted as a proud self-identifier among Filipinas, particularly in their diaspora. A number of academic and autobiographical works published in the 2000s have considered, for example, the experience of the Pinay in various aspects of social life.

The Southern California-based Filipino fast-food chain, Pinoy Pinay, opened in 1992. In the 2000s, the default (and male) Pinoy saw prominent use in the Filipino versions of the reality TV shows Big Brother and American Idol: Pinoy Big Brother and Pinoy Idol.

Like Filipinx, Pinxy is occasionally used as gender-neutral alternative to Pinay, Pinoy, and Pin@y.