mga

Etymology
From Proto-Central Philippine *maŋa, from, from. The spelling is a from Spanish-era contraction of.

Article

 * : -s, -es

Etymology
From Proto-Bisayan *maŋa, from Proto-Central Philippine *maŋa, from, from. The spelling is a from Spanish-era contraction of.

Article

 * : -s, -es;

Etymology
From earlier, from Proto-Central Philippine *maŋa, from , from.

The three-letter spelling originated in a now defunct Spanish language abbreviation convention of drawing a tilde over the abbreviated word, in this case, later rendered as or. The complications of typing $⟨ñ⟩$, $⟨g̃⟩$ or any such tilded combination using English language typewriters during the American occupation of the Philippines caused it to be dropped in writing. Compare.

The abbreviated form was kept to avoid possible confusion with prefix.

Particle

 * : -s, -es

Adverb

 * 1) approximately; around; about