Cebuano (/sɛˈbwɑːnoʊ/ se-BWAH-noh) is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern Philippines by Bisaya people and other ethnic groups as a secondary language. It is natively, though informally, called by the generic name Bisayâ (Cebuano pronunciation: [bisəˈjaʔ] ), or Binisayâ ([bɪniːsəˈjaʔ]) (both terms are translated into English as Visayan, though this should not be confused with other Bisayan languages) and sometimes referred to in English sources as Cebuan (/sɛˈbuːən/ seb-OO-ən). It is spoken by the Visayan ethnolinguistic groups native to the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, the eastern half of Negros, the western half of Leyte, the northern coastal areas of Northern Mindanao and the eastern part of Zamboanga del Norte due to Spanish settlements during the 18th century. In modern times, it has also spread to the Davao Region, Cotabato, Camiguin, parts of the Dinagat Islands, and the lowland regions of Caraga, often displacing native languages in those areas (most of which are closely related to it).
While Tagalog has the largest number of native speakers among the languages of the Philippines today, Cebuano had the largest native-language-speaking population from the 1950s until about the 1980s. It is by far the most widely spoken of the Bisayan languages.