English
gweilo
Gweilo comes from Cantonese 鬼佬.
- Cantonesemodern鬼佬gwai² lou²
- Englishearliest quotation 1977gweilo
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Cantonesemodern鬼佬gwai² lou²
- Englishearliest quotation 1977gweilo
Earliest quotation: 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy: “She had ruffled the bed and laid a frilly…”
Every English word from Cantonese 鬼佬
Today it means
noun A white person in China, (particularly) a man; a ‘foreign devil’.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Cantonese 鬼佬 / gweilo