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
Going to the patan'nan each magani, beginning with the datu or his son, takes hold of the poles, and in a loud voice, begins to confess all his warlike deeds.
From The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Cole, Fay-Cooper
Finally the datu ordered out a stack of weapons and other presents, and made another allotment to the visitors, in due proportion to relationship.
From The Manóbos of Mindanáo Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII, First Memoir by Garvan, John M.
His wives, children, and guests eat from a long row of dishes set on the floor, but the datu takes his food alone at a considerable distance from the others.
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.
