うぇーきんちゅ・っゑーきんちゅ【うぇーきん人・っゑーきん人】 : qweekinchu · 'weekinchu | define meaning

Cognate with Okinoerabu oicjuu; Okinawan っゑーきんちゅ qweekinchu; Miyako (Ogami) uyakipstu; Yaeyama (Shiraho) うやぎぴとぅ uyagipitu; Yaeyama (Hatoma) うやきぷす uyakipusu; and Yonaguni uyagintu "rich person". Possibly from おおやけ【大家】 ooyake, originally meaning "large family" (still the case in some Japanese dialects) and later semantically shifting to "(person) from a large family", "wealthy farmer" and "rich person" (compare Tsugaru おやぎ oyagi).