towkay

English

Etymology

From Malay tauke, from Min Nan 頭家／头家 (thâu-ke, “boss”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈtaʊkeɪ/

Noun

towkay (plural towkays)

(Malaysia) A business owner; boss (especially a Malaysian Chinese).
(Malaysia) Term of address for such a person; sir.

Translations

business owner

Chinese:
Min Nan: 头家 (thâu-ke)

Malay: tokeh / tauke (ms)

term of address

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: ^{(please verify)} chef (fr) m

Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 老板 (zh), ^{(please verify)} 雇主 (zh)

References

The Oxford English Dictionary just attributes a Malay origin, but the Collins English Dictionary (2009) states it's of Chinese origin.
Lee Eng Kew (李永球), 2004, “誰是“頭家”？” (Who are the towkays), Sin Chew Daily.

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.