Wednesday, May 19, 2010

List of English words of Malay origin


 
Agar (also 'agar-agar')
a gelatinous substance obtained from various kinds of red seaweed and used in biological culture media and as a thickener in foods.
Amok (also 'amuck' or 'amock')
out of control, especially when armed and dangerous; in a frenzy of violence, or on a killing spree, 'berserk', as in 'to run amok'.
Babirusa (also 'babiroussa') 
from French babiroussa, from Malay babi hog + rusa deer. A wild pig (Babyrousa babyrussa) of the East Indies with backward-curving tusks.
Balanda (also 'ballanda' or 'ballander') 
from Makasar balanda, from Malay belanda, from Dutch Hollander meaning a white person, a European.
Bamboo 
from bambu
Banteng 
from banteng, 'a SE Asian forest ox that resembles the domestic cow, domesticated in Bali [Bos javanicus.]'
Binturong 
from binturong, 'a large species of civet, Arctictis binturong, of SE Asia'.
Caddy (also 'caddie')
from kati (a measurement unit, whereby 1 kati = approximately 600 g).
Cassowary 
from kasuari/kesuari, 'a very large flightless bird related to the emu'.
Catty 
from kati (a unit of measurement)
Camphor 
see Kapur. From Old French camphore or Mediaeval Latin camphora, from Arabic 'kāfūr', from Malay kapur.
Cempedak (also Chempedak) 
from Cempedak, a species of tree and its fruit in the family Moraceae.
Cockatoo 
from kakaktua, a parrot with an erectile crest.
Compound (enclosed group of buildings) 
by folk etymology from kampung or 'village'
Cooties 
from kutu, 'lice'
Dammar 
from damar, 'resin; resin obtained from various mainly Indo-Malaysian trees, used to make varnish.'
Dugong 
from duyung, 'mermaid'
Durian 
from duri 'thorns', hence durian, 'thorny'
Gambier 
from gambir(the name of the plant), an astringent extract of a tropical Asian plant, used in tanning'
Gecko 
from geko,gekok
Gingham 
from ginggang
Gong 
from gong, a metal disc with a turned rim that gives a resonant note when struck.
Gutta-percha 
(a type of tree whose sap is used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber) from getah, 'rubber' and perca, 'scrap/piece'; hence getah perca, 'a scrap/piece of rubber'
ikat 
from ikat, 'to bind', a style of weaving that uses a process similar to tie-dye to dye the threads.
Jackfruit 
generally cited as deriving from the Malayalam chakka or cakkai via the Portuguese jaca, which came from the Malay/Indonesian word nangka.
Junk (type of boat) 
from jong
Kapok 
from kapuk, 'a fine fibrous substance which grows around the seeds of a ceiba or silk-cotton tree, used as stuffing for cushions'
Kapur 
from kapur a large tropical tree which yields light brown wood, edible fruit, and camphor [Genus Dryobalanops.]
Komodo 
from komodo
Kris (also archaic 'creese') 
from keris, 'a Malay/Indonesian dagger with a wavy-edged blade'
Launch 
from lancar (meaning 'swift', 'nimble'; and 'making something moves faster'; and 'doing or held something like an action, attack etc.' ) and lancaran (meaning 'a kind of swift boat' - in old Malay literatures) , 'a large motor boat.'
Langsat 
from langsat, a species of fruit-bearing tree belonging to the family Meliaceae [Lansium domesticum]
Mangosteen 
from manggustan, also known as Manggis
Meranti  
from meranti, 'white, red, or yellow hardwood from a SE Asian tree (genus Shorea)'
Merbau  
from merbau, 'the hardwood of a SE Asian tree (genus Intsia)'
Orangutan 
from orang hutan or 'people of the jungle'
paddy 
as in 'paddy-field' or 'rice paddy', from padi, referring to the rice plant Oryza sativa.
Pandanus 
from pandan, 'a tropical tree or shrub with a twisted stem, long spiny leaves, and fibrous edible fruit.[Genus Pandanus.]'
Pangolin 
from pengguling, 'one that rolls/curls'
Pantoum 
from pantun, 'a Malay poetic/verse form'.
Parang 
from parang, 'a Malayan machete',
Picul 
from pikul (a unit of measurement)
Proa (also 'prahu' or 'prau')
from perahu, 'a Malaysian or Indonesian sailing boat, typically having a large triangular sail and an outrigger'
Rambutan 
from rambut 'hair', hence rambutan, 'hairy'
Ramie 
from rami, 'the plant of the nettle family which yields this fibre, native to tropical Asia. [Boehmeria nivea.]'
Rattan 
from rotan
Sago 
from sagu, '(sago palm) the palm from which most sago is obtained, growing in freshwater swamps in SE Asia. [Metroxylon sagu.]; any of a number of other palms or cycads which yield a similar starch.'
Salak 
from salak, ' a species of palm tree (family Arecaceae) native to Indonesia and Malaysia [Salacca zalacca]'
Sambal 
from sambal, (in oriental cookery) relish made with vegetables or fruit and spices.
Sarong 
from sarung, 'wrap/sheath'
Satay (also 'sate') 
from Malay satai, Javanese/Indonesian "sate", 'an Indonesian and Malaysian dish consisting of small pieces of meat grilled on a skewer and served with spiced sauce.'
Seladang 
from seladang, a wild ox with a dark brown or black coat with white lower legs, native to India and Malaysia. [Bos gaurus.] .
Siamang 
from siamang, 'a large black gibbon native to Sumatra and Malaya [Hylobates syndactylus.]'
Silat 
from silat, 'a Malay's martial art'
Tael 
from tahil (a unit of measurement) meaning 'weight'
Tokay 
from toke of Malay dialect, means 'a large grey SE Asian gecko with orange and blue spots. [Gekko gecko.]
Trepang 
from teripang/trepang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

so non reliable source?
some of the word are english people mere using malay to describe malay stuff. sambal is chili paste in english. please think before you post

share

GEOSTRING

advertise

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails