malunggay
malúnggay with stress marks
horse-radish tree (medicinal)
Usage Note
Malunggay is the Filipino name for Moringa oleifera, one of the most celebrated medicinal and nutritional plants in the Philippines. Its leaves are a staple ingredient in soups like tinola and nilaga, and the plant is promoted in government health programs as a superfood for mothers and malnourished children.
Examples
" May malunggay sa luto namin. "
Natural Translation
There's malunggay in our dish.
Literal Translation
Have horse-radish-tree in dish our.
" Masustansya ang malunggay. "
Natural Translation
The horse-radish tree is nutritious.
Literal Translation
Nutritious the horse-radish tree.
" Lagi kaming naglalagay ng malunggay sa tinola dahil sinasabi ng lola ko na nakakadagdag ito ng gatas para sa mga bagong panganak. "
Natural Translation
We always put malunggay in our tinola because my grandmother says it boosts milk supply for new mothers.
Literal Translation
Always we put of horse-radish-tree in tinola because says of grandmother my that adds it of milk for the new gave-birth.
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.

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.

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.

Filipino Food: 12 Essential Dishes (With Tagalog Names)
Filipino food, from adobo to halo-halo: learn the Tagalog names, pronunciations, and ingredients behind 12 dishes you'll want to try on your first trip.

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.