Timawa in the Visayas
The word timáwa is most likely of Visayan origin and referred to the feudal Visayan privileged middle warrior class during the precolonial to early colonial periods.
However, in the modern Visayan languages, the word “timáwa” has come to mean “poor” or “impoverished” due to the historical decline of the pre-colonial feudal warrior timawa class during the Spanish colonial period.
The timawa lost their status in society and were forced to pay taxes to the Spanish colonial government. The datus (chiefs) or the precolonial ruling class started fining them more harshly as the datus themselves were forced to pay tribute.
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