higante
higánte with stress marks
giant, huge
Usage Note
Higante is borrowed from Spanish gigante and means giant or enormous. In the Philippines it is closely associated with the Higantes Festival in Angono, Rizal, where massive papier-mâché figures are paraded through the streets every November.
Examples
" Higante ang halimaw sa kuwento. "
Natural Translation
The monster in the story is a giant.
Literal Translation
Giant the monster in-the story.
" Ang mga higante sa Angono ay gawa sa papel at kawayan. "
Natural Translation
The giants in Angono are made of paper and bamboo.
Literal Translation
The giants in Angono are made of paper and bamboo.
" Tuwing Nobyembre, libu-libong tao ang dumadagsa sa Angono upang panoorin ang parada ng mga higanteng papier-mâché. "
Natural Translation
Every November, thousands of people flock to Angono to watch the parade of papier-mâché giants.
Literal Translation
Every November, thousands [na] people [ang] flock-in to Angono in-order watch the parade of giant [na] papier-mâché.
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 workRelated Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.
Is Tagalog Hard to Learn? An Honest Answer
Tagalog takes around 1,100 hours to reach professional proficiency. Here is what is easy, what is hard, and what to expect at 3, 6, and 12 months.
Seasons in the Philippines: A Tagalog Guide
The Philippines has two seasons, not four. Learn tag-araw, tag-ulan, and taglamig, the generative tag- prefix, and the weather vocabulary to match.
How to Say Sorry in Tagalog: Patawad vs Pasensya
How to say sorry in Tagalog: patawad, pasensya na, and paumanhin compared on a simple severity-and-formality ladder so you pick the right word every time.
Po and Opo in Tagalog: Where to Put Them Right
Po and opo confuse learners — but placement follows one rule. Where po goes in a sentence, why it's opo not 'oo po', and the pronoun shift to learn.