Skip to content

alkitran

alkitrán with stress marks

tar, asphalt

noun al-ki-TRAN Arabic origin Rare

Usage Note

Alkitran derives from Arabic al-qiṭrān via Spanish alquitrán and refers to the black tar used in road paving and waterproofing. It is a practical, blue-collar term often heard at construction sites, and can be used metaphorically to describe something dark and sticky.

Examples

Beginner

" Itim ang alkitran sa daan. "

Natural Translation

The tar on the road is black.

Literal Translation

Black the tar on road.

Intermediate

" Ang daan ay binuhusan ng alkitran bago bumagsak ang ulan. "

Natural Translation

The road was coated with tar before the rain fell.

Literal Translation

The road was-poured-with tar before fell the rain.

Advanced

" Init na init ang alkitran sa kalsada tuwing tanghali, kaya hindi maganda tumawid nang nakapaa. "

Natural Translation

The tar on the road gets very hot at noon, so it is not good to cross barefoot.

Literal Translation

Hot very the tar on road every noon, so not good cross while barefoot.

Free · iOS & Android

Take Tagalog with you

The full course, a 12,500-word dictionary, and flashcards that make every word stick — free to start on iOS and Android.

Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.

How Tagalog words work

Explore Tagalog by topic

Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.