Manila
//mɐˈni.lɐ// adj, name, noun
adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Venerupis philippinarum; a Pacific clam.
- 2 Fiber made from abaca (Manila hemp), used to make ropes and manila paper. uncountable, usually
- 3 a strong paper or thin cardboard with a smooth light brown finish made from e.g. Manila hemp wordnet
- 4 Alternative form of manila (“kind of cheroot”). alt-of, alternative
- 5 The yellow-brown color of manila. uncountable, usually
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- 6 A kind of cheroot manufactured in Manila. uncountable, usually
Adjective
- 1 Made of manila paper or material like it. not-comparable
"a manila envelope"
- 2 Yellow-brown; colored like manila paper. not-comparable
Proper Noun
- 1 The capital city of the Philippines; the regional capital of Metro Manila, in the island of Luzon.
"Chinese traders, mostly from the southern ports of Amoy (Hsia-men) and Canton, took raw silk, fabrics, and apparel to Manila, where these cargoes were sold for silver and carried back for sale in the New World."
- 2 Metro Manila, the National Capital Region (NCR). broadly
- 3 the entirety of Luzon. broadly
- 4 The national government or administrative authority of the Philippines. figuratively
- 5 A small town, the county seat of Daggett County, Utah, United States.
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- 6 A census-designated place in Humboldt County, California, United States.
- 7 A city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States.
Example
More examples"The ship is about to sail for Manila tomorrow."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Spanish Manila, from Tagalog Maynila, from may (“there is”) + nila (“indigo”), Tagalog nila from Sanskrit नील (nīla).
Etymology 2
From Manila.
Related phrases
More for "manila"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.