root word: apat (meaning: ‘four’)
This is a very archaic Tagalog word. It was a unit of measurement during the Spanish colonial period, especially related to the galleon trade with Mexico.
Having various meanings in different parts of the islands at different times, the word sikapat usually referred to a value of 1 Spanish real (0.12 ½ Mexican).
four reales
sikapat
one real
sikapat
(saikapat /
sa ikaapat)
fourth
sikapat
shilling bit
sikapat
12.5 cents
sikapat
twelve and a half centavos
= half of twenty-five centavos
anim na sikapat
~ 75 centavos
sikapat
~ 10 centavos
kahati (now kalahati)
half
sikatlo
third
sikapat
fourth
sikolo (saikawalo / sa ikawalo)
eighth
salapi
was worth four reals
kusíng
half a centavo
Under certain conversion methods:
a sikapat would translate into one-half instead of one-fourth
a sikolo would be one-fourth instead of one-eighth
