English
leng zai
Leng zai comes from Cantonese 靚仔 ‘handsome’.
- Cantonesemodern靚仔leng³ zai²‘handsome’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019leng zai
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Cantonesemodern靚仔leng³ zai²‘handsome’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019leng zai
Earliest quotation: 2019, Ovidia Yu, The Paper Bark Tree Mystery: “Even hardened gangsters teasingly addressed him as leng zai…”
Every English word from Cantonese 靚仔
Today it means
noun good-looking man, pretty boy
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Cantonese 靚仔 / leng zai