silay
sílay with stress marks
a brief glimpse or appearance
Usage Note
Silay refers to a fleeting glance or a brief moment of visibility, often used in literary Tagalog to evoke an image that appears and vanishes quickly. It conveys an air of longing or wistfulness when something beautiful or precious is seen only for an instant.
Examples
" May silay ng araw. "
Natural Translation
There is a glimpse of the sun.
Literal Translation
There-is glimpse of sun.
" Nakita niya ang isang silay ng pag-asa. "
Natural Translation
He/she saw a brief glimpse of hope.
Literal Translation
Saw he/she the one brief glimpse of hope.
" Sa gitna ng makakapal na ulap, may isang silay ng liwanag na nagbigay sa amin ng panibagong pag-asa. "
Natural Translation
In the midst of the thick clouds, there was a brief glimpse of light that gave us renewed hope.
Literal Translation
In the-middle of thick clouds, there-is one glimpse of light that gave to us of renewed hope.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
How Tagalog words workActor Focus Verbs
Related Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.

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.

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.

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.

Languages of the Philippines: Tagalog, Cebuano, and More
Languages of the Philippines: one national language (Filipino) plus 180+ regional languages. Here's who speaks what, where, and why it matters to you.