payo

See also: PAYO

Central Bikol

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paˈjo/ [paˈjo]
• Hyphenation: pa‧yo

Noun

payó (Basahan spelling ᜉᜌᜓ)

1. (anatomy) head
2. (formal, literary) leader

   Synonyms: lider, puon

3. (formal, literary) chief

   Synonym: hepe

Derived terms

• mamayo
• pamayo

See also

• alimantak, alintak

Central Nahuatl

Alternative forms

• payotl (Amecameca)
• payatl (Texcoco)

Noun

payo

1. rebozo.

Northern Catanduanes Bikol

Noun

payó

1. (anatomy) head

Spanish

Etymology

According to Ramón Menéndez Pidal, borrowed from Portuguese or Galician payo, from Portuguese or Galician Pelayo, from Latin Pelagius, so of the same origin as the Spanish name Pelayo and related to piélago (“sea (poetic term)”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈpaʝo/ [ˈpa.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): /ˈpaʝo/ [ˈpa.ʝo] (everywhere but Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay, northern Mexico, Yucatán and Central America (except Panama))
• IPA^(key): /ˈpaʃo/ [ˈpa.ʃo] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ˈpaʒo/ [ˈpa.ʒo] (elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /ˈpajo/ [ˈpa.jo] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Rhymes: -aʝo
• Syllabification: pa‧yo

Adjective

payo (feminine paya, masculine plural payos, feminine plural payas)

1. non-Romani person

   Synonym: gaché

   Antonym: calé

2. (chiefly derogatory, Melilla) non-Muslim person
   • 2008 June 18, tatumj2391, “¿Hay algun AFRICANO - MUSULMÁN - ÁRABE - MORO en el foro?”, in Foros ACB‎^[1] (blog):

     a ver.... yo soy de melilla, asi que de todas las opciones que pones...soy africano y español de España. lo de "moro"...pues aqui a los moros les llamamos moros....y no hay ningun problema, no es nada despectivo ni ninguna historia rara, ellos son moros, nosotros pues cristianos, hebreos, "payos".... Un saludo

     Let's see... I'm from Melilla, so of all the options you listed... I'm African and Spanish from Spain. As for "Moor"... well, here we call Moors Moors... and there's no problem, it's not derogatory or anything strange, they're Moors, we're Christians, Jews, "non-Muslims"... Best regards

Noun

payo m (plural payos, feminine paya, feminine plural payas)

1. non-Romani person; gadjo
   • 1986, Mecano, Hijo de la luna:

     Este hijo es de un payo, y yo no me lo callo.

     This is a non-Romani man's son, and I won't hold my tongue

   • 2018 September 18, “La polémica de la apropiación cultural: ¿Es el éxito de Rosalía un robo a los gitanos?”, in El Mundo‎^[2]:

     ¿Puede una paya millennial de Barcelona triunfar cantando flamenco? Malamente.

     Can a millennial non-Romani woman triumph by singing flamenco? Hardly.

Descendants

• → Catalan: paio

Further reading

• “payo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *payu (“agreement, consensus; harmony”). Compare Javanese ꦥꦪꦸ (payu), and Malay payu.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈpajo/ [ˈpaː.jo]
• Rhymes: -ajo
• Syllabification: pa‧yo

Noun

payo (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜌᜓ)

1. advice; counsel

   Synonym: konseho

Derived terms

• payuhan
• tagapayo

Anagrams

• ayop, yapo, apyo, apoy

Temascaltepec Nahuatl

Noun

payo

1. rebozo

West Miraya Bikol

Noun

payo

1. (anatomy) head