Usage Note
Kabaong is the standard Tagalog word for a coffin or casket, used matter-of-factly without taboo in everyday speech. Filipino death rituals typically involve a multi-day wake called lamay where the kabaong is displayed at home or in a funeral parlor before burial.
Examples
" Puti ang kulay ng kabaong. "
Natural Translation
The coffin is white.
Literal Translation
White the color of-the coffin.
" Pinalamutian nila ang kabaong ng mga bulaklak. "
Natural Translation
They decorated the coffin with flowers.
Literal Translation
Decorated they the coffin of-the flowers.
" Habang nilalapitan ng mga anak ang kabaong, hindi na nila napigilan ang pag-iyak sa lamay. "
Natural Translation
As the children approached the coffin, they could no longer hold back their tears at the wake.
Literal Translation
While being-approached by-the children the coffin, not anymore they held-back the crying at-the wake.
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.
Spaced Repetition for Tagalog: How Flashcards Make Words Stick
Cramming Tagalog vocabulary fails. See how spaced repetition — the science behind smart flashcards — makes words stick for the long term.
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.
Tagalog Word Order: Sentence Structure Made Simple
Why Tagalog puts the verb first, and how ang, ng, and sa markers work. A clear guide to VSO word order, forming questions, and negation.
Days of the Week and Months in Tagalog
The days of the week and months in Tagalog are Spanish loanwords. Learn all 7 days and 12 months with pronunciation, plus how to say dates and 'every Monday.'