Meaning of Sangley | Babel Free

Definitions

A person of pure ethnic Chinese ancestry (especially during the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines)

Philippines, historical

Examples

“There were also in this city certain Sangleyes who had settled down there to sell their merchandise, so that they remained there from one year to another.”

“They retired to the river of Tan-Chuy, with a prize which they made there, a small champan from China, which came from that kingdom to Hermosa Island to carry supplies and merchandise; in it was traveling a religious of St. Dominic, in the garb of a Sangley.”

“What arouses my wonder most is, that when I arrived no Sangley knew how to paint anything; but now they have so perfected themselves in this art that they have produced marvelous works with both the brush and the chisel....”

“The steersmen were killed on two of the bancas; the bancas, turning broadside to the current, were soon capsized, and the river became a mass of frenzied sangleys fighting for their lives in the treacherous waters.”

“Moreover, the sangleys are setting up a small parian in this area. This is bound to grow in time as more and more sangleys will go there to sow the fields and plant sugarcane.”

“As discussed in the Introduction, the sangley was intimately associated with the economic activity of trade: even though there were sangleyes who worked as artisans (and in some cases farmers and fishermen), sangley involvement in the China-Manila-Mexico galleon trade was a key element of the early Spanish colonial economy. The sangley was also characterized by his high level of mobility, that is, his "frequent coming" from somewhere not here but near.”

CEFR level