*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of abaca

Etymology tree Arabic الْأَبَقَ (al-ʔabaqa)bor.? Proto-Philippine *abaká? Tagalog abakabor. Spanish abacábor. English abaca From Spanish abacá, from Tagalog abaka.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

Musa textilis, a species of banana tree native to the Philippines grown for its textile, rope- and papermaking fibre. · The fiber of this plant, used in rope, fibers, and cloth.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Arabic الْأَبَقَ (al-ʔabaqa)bor.? Proto-Philippine *abaká? Tagalog abakabor. Spanish abacábor. English abaca From Spanish abacá, from Tagalog abaka.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "es:abacá",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nArabic الْأَبَقَ (al-ʔabaqa)bor.?\nProto-Philippine *abaká?\nTagalog abakabor.\nSpanish abacábor.\nEnglish abaca\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Arabic\", \"term\" : \"الْأَبَقَ\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"ar\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" }, { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Philippine\", \"term\" : \"*abaká\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"phi-pro\" } ], \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Tagalog\", \"term\" : \"abaka\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"tl\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Spanish\", \"term\" : \"abacá\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"es\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"abaca\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"abaca\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "es",
        "3": "abacá"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish abacá"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tl",
        "3": "abaka"
      },
      "expansion": "Tagalog abaka"
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "es:abacá",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nArabic الْأَبَقَ (al-ʔabaqa)bor.?\nProto-Philippine *abaká?\nTagalog abakabor.\nSpanish abacábor.\nEnglish abaca"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "الْأَبَقَ",
      "الأبق#Arabic"
    ],
    [
      "*abaká",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Philippine/abaká"
    ],
    [
      "abaka",
      "abaka#Tagalog"
    ],
    [
      "abacá",
      "abacá#Spanish"
    ],
    [
      "abacá",
      "abacá#Spanish"
    ],
    [
      "abaka",
      "abaka#Tagalog"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "lang_code": "nb",
      "word": "abaca",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Musa textilis, a species of banana tree native to the Philippines grown for its textile, rope- and papermaking fibre.",
        "The fiber of this plant, used in rope, fibers, and cloth."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "recordId": "4fb53c12e772a80fe64ca1194f1b867726b449678e99a23f81f841f964b77b1e",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c7fa4bc775f97daefaf1833f852df1bac4591af15c19e1f3f5b6684c1040fd45",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 1284
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for abaca →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YWJhY2E