List of English words of Indonesian origin

The following is a partial list of English words of Indonesian origin. The loanwords in this list may be borrowed or derived, either directly or indirectly, from the Indonesian language. Some words may also be borrowed from Malay during the British colonial period in British Malaya, or during the short period of British rule in Java. However, unlike loanwords of Malay origin, some of these loanwords may be derived from languages of Indonesia such as Javanese.

Examples of English loanwords of Indonesian origin are those related to Indonesian culture and artforms (e.g. angklung, batik, kris and wayang), as well as words used to describe flora and fauna endemic to the Indonesian archipelago (e.g. babirusa, cockatoo, orangutan and Komodo). Other recently adopted loanwords include food related terms (e.g. agar and tempeh) and specific volcanology terms (e.g. lahar and ribu).

Animals

• Babirusa, compound word from babi (pig) and rusa (deer)
• Banteng
• Bantam, from the town of Banten
• Binturong
• Cassowary from kasuari (Papuan)
• Cockatoo from kakatua ^[1]
• Dugong from duyung
• Komodo dragon, from Komodo
• Orangutan ^[1]
• Pangolin from pengguling or trenggiling
• Siamang
• Tapir
• Tokay (gecko) from tokek (Javanese)
• Trepang from teripang

Plants and trees

• Bamboo from bambu
• Gambier from gambir
• Gutta percha from getah perca
• Kapok from kapuk
• Meranti a kind of tropical tree
• Merbau a kind of tropical tree
• Paddy from padi (Indonesian) / pari (Javanese)
• Pandanus from pandan
• Ramie from rami
• Rattan from rotan
• Sago from sagu
• Cajuput from kayu Putih

Fruits

• Cempedak
• Durian
• Langsat
• Mangosteen from manggis (manggustan)
• Rambutan
• Salak, also known as Zalacca
• Papaya from pepaya

Foods

• Agar
• Ketchup from kecap (soy sauce, not tomato sauce)
• Sambal
• Satay from sate (Javanese)
• Tempeh from tempe

Clothes and textiles

• Batik from Batik (Javanese)
• Canting from canting (Javanese)
• Gingham from genggang
• Ikat
• Koteka (Papuan)
• Sarong from sarung
• Songket

Musical instruments

• Angklung
• Gamelan
• Gong

Ships

• Junk from jong
• Proa (also 'prahu' or 'prau') from prahu (Javanese) or perahu (Indonesian) (via Portuguese Proa via Latin Prora).

Weapons

• Kris from keris (Javanese)
• Parang
• Sjambok from cambuk in Indonesia, where it was the name of a wooden rod for punishing slaves

Person name

• Mata Hari from matahari (sun)

Units

• Catty from kati, ultimately derived from Chinese unit
• Picul: traditional Asian weight unit, derived from Javanese pikul
• Ribu: topographic prominence unit of mountain or volcano more than 1,000 metres, derived from Indonesian ribu (thousand)

Behavior and psychology

• Amok from amuk ^[1]
• Latah

Sports

• Bantam, from bantam chicken, ultimately Banten town
• Silat
• Sepak takraw

Others

• Balanda to refer whiteman, from belanda (Dutchman)
• Camphor, from kapur barus ("Barus' chalk"), which refers to the port of Barus in Sumatra as the source of camphor
• Damar, plant resin
• Lahar from lahar (Javanese)
• Tombac from tembaga
• Compound from kampung, which is Indonesian for "village".

References