om

From Sanskrit ओं (oṃ) or औं (auṃ) or ॐ (oṃ). Cognate with Balinese ᬒᬁ.

(Hinduism, Buddhism) om: a sacred, mystical syllable used in prayer and meditation


baik

Inherited from Malay baik, from Proto-Malayic *baik, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bait.
Cognates
Cognate with Iban baik, Tagalog bait, Maori pai.


saya

From Malay saya, from earlier sahaya, from Sanskrit सहाय (sahāya).

sahaya (alternative archaic)
saja (alternative)

(polite) response that confirms that the speaker is paying attention: yes

This table only shows personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language

The second person pronouns are often replaced by kinship terms

while the proclitic is only used as a subject


hem

A sound uttered in imitation of clearing the throat (onomatopoeia).

onomatopoeic

imitation

used to express anger, furiousness, etc.


ah

Unknown
* from Arabic آهْ (ʔāh)
* from Peranakan Indonesian ach (“oh”), from Dutch ach (“oh”).

oh, expresses compassion, surprise and dismay


ha

expression of excitement or ridicule: ha!


nah

See?! That's why you shouldn't eat a lot of fruit.

Nah! Makanya jangan makan buah banyak-banyak (a mother scolding a child who has a stomachache)

I told you so! See?! (at long last the penny's dropped)


ayo

From Malay ayuh, ayo, from Classical Malay ايوه (ayuh), ايو (ayo). Cognate of Malay ayuh, Javanese ꦲꦪꦺꦴ (ayo, “come on, let's, please”).

cog

Ayo beli baju Hishiro sekarang!

Come on, get your own Hishiro clothes now!


dasar

Inherited from Malay dasar, probably ultimately from Sanskrit [Term?]. Compare Javanese ꦝꦱꦂ (dhasar), Old Javanese ḍasar (“base, bottom; workshop”).


yo

(slang) yo (greeting, interjection similar to hey)


siap

From Malay siap, probably from Proto-Mon-Khmer *srap (“ready, prepared”) (compare Khmer ស្រាប់ (srap, “ready”) and Vietnamese sắp. Compare to Japanese 気(き)を付(つ)け (kiotsuke, “attention”) and Malay sedia for military command.

der

(military) Used as a command to bring soldiers to the attention position


spada

Blend of siapa + ada, literally “who's here”.

blend

(slang, dialectal) an interjection to call out someone when coming or visiting someone's house; "is anybody home?"


eureka

Unadapted borrowing from Ancient Greek εὕρηκα (heúrēka, “I have found”), perfect active indicative 1st singular of εὑρίσκω (heurískō, “I find”).


terima kasih

From terima (“receive”) + kasih (“care”), from Malay terima kasih.

makasih (alternative colloquial informal)
terimakasih (alternative nonstandard)
trims (alternative)
trm ksh (alternative Internet)

(formal) thank you (an expression of gratitude)


bon voyage

Unadapted borrowing from French bon voyage (“bon voyage”)

bon voyage, have a good journey, have a good trip


halo

Borrowed from Dutch hallo. Compare Malay helo.


dah

Clipping of sudah, from Malay dah. In the interjection sense, false cognate of Russian да (da, “yes”).


dah

From Dutch dag (“goodbye”), from Middle Dutch dach, from Old Dutch dag, from Proto-Germanic *dagaz. This word was originally spelled dag as in Dutch, but the final -g is replaced by -h and the form becomes archaic, but not in the word mag, were it always pronounced with final /h/ or /x/.


mari

From Malay mari, from Proto-Malayic *mari, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *maʀi.


aman

From Malay aman, from Classical Malay امان (aman), from Arabic أَمَان (ʔamān, “tranquillity, peacefulness”).

der

- Aman gak?
- Aman, semuanya udah terkendali!

- Is everything alright?
- It's all good, everything's under control!


asu

Borrowed from Javanese ꦲꦱꦸ (asu), from Old Javanese asu, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *asu, from Proto-Austronesian *asu.

(vulgar) fuck, shit (expressing dismay or discontent)


anjing

Inherited from Malay anjing, from Proto-Malayic *anjiŋ. Cognate with Minangkabau anjiang.


voilà

Unadapted borrowing from French voilà (literally “look there”).

ubor

voilà, there it is; see here; ta-da; presto; behold!


pagi

Inherited from Malay pagi. See there for further etymology.


sayonara

Borrowed from Japanese さよなら (sayonara), a shorter form of more traditional さようなら (sayōnara, “goodbye”, literally “if that's the way it is”).

(informal, often humorous, especially used when referring to Japan) goodbye, adieu


adios

Borrowed from Spanish adiós (“goodbye”).


selamat

From Malay selamat, from Arabic سَلَامَات (salāmāt), plural of سَلَام (salām).


hidup

Inherited from Malay hidup, from Classical Malay hidup, from Old Malay hidup, from Proto-Malayic *hidup, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic *hudip by metathesis, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qudip, from Proto-Austronesian *qudip. Doublet of urip and urit.

Hidup rakyat Indonesia!

viva; long live ... ! (used to express acclaim or support)


ngentot

From Betawi ngentot. Equivalent to meng- + entot.

(offensive, vulgar, colloquial, slang) fuck!


arrivederci

Unadapted borrowing from Italian arrivederci.


sori

(informal) Synonym of maaf (“sorry; excuse me”)


pour féliciter

Pseudo-Gallicism, derived from pour + féliciter, literally “to congratulate”. Not used in French-speaking countries.


pukimak

From Malay pukimak (“mother's vagina”). By surface analysis, puki + mak.


permisi

From Dutch permissie, Middle Dutch permissie, from Middle French permission, from Latin permissio.

said as a polite request for an individual's attention; to pass, to apologize for one's inconvenience, equivalent to pardon, or excuse me


horas

Borrowed from Toba Batak horas (“healthy”), from Proto-Batak *kəras, ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kəʀas (“hard”). Doublet of keras.


maaf

From Malay maaf, from Classical Malay maaf, ma'af, from Arabic مُعَاف (muʕāf, “exempt (from taxation)”).


sampai

From Malay sampai, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sampay (“up to, as far as, until”).


silakan

From Malay silakan, from Classical Malay silakan. Equivalent to sila + -kan.


selamat pagi

From selamat (“good”) + pagi (“morning”), from Malay selamat pagi.

pagi (alternative)
met pagi (alternative)

good morning (when seeing someone for the first time in the morning)


aduh

From Malay aduh, from Proto-Malayic *aduh, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *aduq.

adoeh (alternative)
duh (alternative)
waduh (alternative)

ouch (expression of pain, discomfort or shock)


dobrak

imitative sound of collapsed fences, door, etc


sayang

From Malay sayang (“love; it were a pity; alas that”),
* from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sayaŋ (“too bad! it’s a pity! what a shame!”).
* from New/Middle Indo-Aryan (such as Punjabi [script needed] (sāīyā̃, “master”) and Nepali [script needed] (saiyā̃, “master”)), from Sanskrit स्वामी (svāmī), singular nominative of स्वामिन् (svāmín). Therefore, doublet of suami.

cog

Sayang sekali!

alas, what a pity, what a shame, what a waste


oke

(colloquial) OK (acceptance, acknowledgement)


sokin

From sini + -ok- with the final rime elided.

(colloquial, originally Prokem slang) come here!


selamat tinngal

selamat tinggal
selamat tinggal#Indonesian


sampai jumpa

From sampai (“until”) + jumpa (“meet”), literally "until we meet again".


bangsat

From Malay bangsat, from Hokkien 木蝨 /木虱 (ba̍t-sat / ba̍k-sat, “bedbug”).

der

(vulgar, offensive, figurative) asshole, son of a bitch


mampus

Inherited from Malay mampus, from Proto-Malayic *mampus, probably from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ma- + *qa(m)pus (“come to an end, be destroyed”). Doublet of hapus. Compare Sundanese apus (“easily go out, extinguished (fire)”).


hadir

From Malay hadir, from Classical Malay hadir, from Arabic حَاضِر (ḥāḍir, “present”). Doublet of hadirat and hadirin.

present or here (an answer for roll call)


emat

From Dutch mat (“check”), from Middle Dutch mat (“checkmate”), borrowed from Old French mat, borrowed from Persian شاه مات (šâh mât, “the king is dead”). Doublet of sekakmat.

der

(chess) word called out when an opponent's king or queen is threatened with voidable capture; mate


proficiat

Borrowed from Dutch proficiat (“congratulations!”), from Latin prōficiat (“may it benefit”).


tabe

(dated or Minangkabau) nonstandard spelling of tabik (“expresses regret, remorse, or sorrow.”).


loh

Loh, kok aneh?

Loh, bukan itu yang dikatakannya

Hang on, that's not what they (3s) said.

(colloquial) what!?, oh come off it!, hang on... (did I hear that right?)


waduh

an exclamation of surprise, alarm or amazement


alah

huh (an interjection to express unconcerned chalence)


masalah

From Indonesian masyaallah, from Arabic مَا شَاءَ الله (mā šāʔa llāh).

der

مَا شَاءَ الله

Arabic مَا شَاءَ الله (mā šāʔa llāh)

(colloquial) Alternative spelling of masyaallah (“mashallah, what God wills; God has willed”)


dadah

From dah (“bye”), from Dutch dag (“goodbye”), from Middle Dutch dach, from Old Dutch dag, from Proto-Germanic *dagaz.


jancuk

Borrowed from Javanese ꦗꦚ꧀ꦕꦸꦏ꧀ (janycuk, “fuck you! (originally)”), from an obscure origin.

unknown

obscure


keparat

From Arabic كَفَرَتْ (kafarat). Doublet of kafarat.

(offensive, vulgar) goddamn it! (expression of anger, contempt, etc.)


kontol

Kontol! Kenapa jadi begini!?

(colloquial, vulgar) used to express worry, failure, shock, etc.


cukimai

Borrowed from Manado Malay cukimai, which is a compound of cuki (“vagina”) + mai (“mother”).


mohon

From Malay mohon, from Classical Malay mohon. Related to Cebuano puhon (“soon”), Tagalog puhon (“contrition”) and Malagasy mifona (“to beg pardon, to entreat, to solicit”). Doublet of pohon.
* nasalization of pohon.
* from Javanese ꦩꦸꦲꦸꦤ꧀, ꦩꦸꦮꦸꦤ꧀ (muhun, muwun, “to cry”) (compare ꦚꦸꦮꦸꦤ꧀, ꦱꦸꦮꦸꦤ꧀ (nyuwun, suwun, “to ask”)), from Old Javanese amuhun (“to beg, beg leave”), suhun (“to ask respectfully”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *cuun (“to desire”).

der

ꦩꦸꦲꦸꦤ꧀, ꦩꦸꦮꦸꦤ꧀


dalem

From Javanese ꦢꦊꦩ꧀ (dalem), from Old Javanese dalem, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *daləm (“inside, deep”), from Proto-Austronesian *daləm. Doublet of dalam.
* The term is associated with the inner part of a royal compound, throughout the Malayo-Javanic cultural area. The reference to “inner” and “inner area” as related to a socially higher status (king, royal residence, and respect) in Malay, Old Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese and Sasak, which appears to be a later innovation related to with Indicized cultural concepts, the development of complex social stratification systems based on increasingly hereditary ranks that extended clan based or tribal relations and ascribed status systems, and the development of economies based on wet rice agriculture.
* The sense of term of address is a semantic loan from Sundanese ᮓᮜᮨᮙ᮪ (dalem). Compare to Javanese ꦢꦊꦩ꧀ (dalem, “a term of address for person of an aristocratic family”).


sialan

(offensive, vulgar) fuck!, shit! (expression of anger, contempt, etc.)


asyik

asyik! (canonical)
asik (alternative)
asjik (alternative)
saik (alternative)
asoy (alternative informal slang)

From Malay asik, asyik, from Classical Malay اسيق (asik), عاشيق (asyik), from Arabic عَاشِق (ʕāšiq, “admirer, lover”).

asyik! kita berhasil!


ilahi

Ultimately from Arabic إِلٰهِي (ʔilāhī).


bedebah

From Malay bedebah, from Persian بدبخت (badbaxt).

(offensive, vulgar) fuck it! (expression of anger, contempt, etc.)


ogah

(chiefly Jakarta, informal) no! (rejecting something)


syabas

Inherited from Malay syabas, from Hindi शाबाश (śābāś, “well done”), from Classical Persian شاباش (šābāš).


astaga

From Arabic أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللّٰهَ (ʔastaḡfiru llāha).

bor

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللّٰهَ


hacim

Possibly from French atchoum. Onomatopoeic.

(onomatopoeia) the sound of a sneeze; achoo


woi

Possibly from Cantonese 喂 (wai²) or Min Nan 喂 (oeh). Doublet of oi and hoi.


monggo

Monggo diminum kopinya.

(dialectal, Java) please (when offering)


astungkara

From Sanskrit अस्तुङ्कार (astuṅkāra, “conceding, assenting unwillingly”).


haleluya

From Dutch halleluja, haleloeja, from Biblical Hebrew הַלְלוּיָהּ (hal'luyáh, “Praise Yah”).

haleluyah (alternative)
alleluya (alternative)

(Christianity, chiefly Protestantism) hallelujah


crot

Onomatopoeic. Compare Indonesian muncrat.

(colloquial) used for sprouting water or liquid coming out of siphon, hose, tap or pipe


baiklah

all right; alright (used to indicate acknowledgement or acceptance)


anjay

(slang, vulgar, colloquial, minced oath) damn; fucking cool


anjir

(slang, vulgar, colloquial, minced oath) shit; damn; fuck

(slang, vulgar, colloquial, minced oath) wow


perdom

From Dutch verdoem, verdoemen, from Middle Dutch verdoemen, from Old Dutch [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *fradōmijaną.

(vulgar, colloquial) Used to express anger, irritation, disappointment, annoyance, contempt or surprise, etc. See also dammit.


masa bodoh

From Malay masa bodoh, masa bodo. Equivalent to masa + bodoh.

(idiomatic, slang) I don't care; whatever


masa bodo

(idiomatic, slang) Alternative spelling of masa bodoh


setan

→ West Makian: setan

From Malay setan, from Arabic شَيْطَان (šayṭān). Doublet of syaitan.

Arabic شَيْطَان (šayṭān)

(vulgar) goddamn (an expression of anger or surprise)


makasih

(informal) thanks (expression of gratitude)


skuy

(back slang, chiefly text messaging) come on


semangat

Inherited from Malay semangat, from Proto-Malayic *sumaŋət, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sumaŋed (“soul of a living being; soul of the rice plant”).


alleluya

From Dutch alleluja, from Latin allēlūia, from Ancient Greek ἀλληλούϊα (allēloúïa), from Hebrew הַלְלוּיָהּ (hal'luyáh, “Praise Yah”).

der

(Christianity, chiefly Catholicism) hallelujah


wkwkwk

Either:
*From the abbreviation of gue (written as ‘w’) and ketawa (written as ‘k’) as a way to reduce carrier fees. SMS language, or
* Altered from wakakaka or wekwekwek (satirical laugh, imitated duck). Onomatopoeic


sans rancune

Unadapted borrowing from French sans rancune (“no hard feelings”).


syukur

From Malay syukur, from Arabic شُكْر (šukr, “thankfulness, gratitude”).

der

(colloquial) An expression of schadenfreude.


asalamualaikum

From Malay assalamualaikum, from Classical Malay السلامعليکم (assalam alaikum), السلامعليکم (assalamu 'alaikum), from Arabic اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم (as-salām ʕalaykum, “peace be upon you”).

der

اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم

assalamualaikum (alternative)
assalamu alaikum (alternative)
assalamoe alaikoem (alternative)
assalamoealaikoem (alternative)

(Islam) salaam alaikum (Muslim greeting)


afwan

you're welcome, don't mention it, not at all


astaganaga

Corrupted from Arabic أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللّٰهَ (ʔastaḡfiru llāha). Influenced by Dutch astaga perlah.

bor

أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللّٰهَ


bacot

Blend of banyak + cocot, literally "too much utter".

Udah, ah, bacot!

Enough, shut up! (lit. "you utter too much!")

(slang, offensive) tells the audience that the audience utters too much


maaci

(Internet slang, text messaging) thank you; TY, ty


haram jadah

From Malay haram jadah, ultimately derived from Persian حرامزاده (harām zāde) of حرام (harām, “forbidden, illegitimate”) + زاده (zāde, “offspring”).

af

(rare, derogatory, vulgar) son of a bitch


persetan

Affixation of per- + setan, literally "to demonize".

(mildly vulgar) damn it (an expression of surprise, outrage, or frustration)


sembarangan

Sembarangan! Jawabannya jelas bukan itu.

Sembarangan! Kamu jangan begitu di depan guru.

Stop! Don't do that in front of teacher.

(sometimes offensive) used to tell someone that they are very wrong


pour remercier

Unadapted borrowing from French [Term?].


sajang

(1901–1947, 1947–1972) Superseded spelling of sayang.


berkah dalem

(Christianity, dialectal, especially in Java) may God bless you


(text messaging, alay) Alternative form of maaf


tabik

Inherited from Malay tabik, ultimately from Sanskrit क्षन्तव्य (kṣantavya, “to be pardoned or forgiven”), itself from the root क्षम् (kṣam, “to endure, pardon”) + -तव्य (-tavya, “future passive participle”), with the core semantic first component apparently dropped and only the second grammatical component retained. Compare Minangkabau tabiak, Old Javanese tabe / kṣāntabya, Toba Batak santabi (“pardon”), Tagalog sintabi (“excuse me”).

der

(dialectal, uncommon) greetings!; Hello!

Near-synonym: permisi

excuse me (to politely ask permission or show respect when visiting certain sacred places)


adoeh

(1901–1947) Superseded spelling of aduh.


tobat

Inherited from Malay توبة (taubat), from Arabic تَوْبَة (tawba, “repentance”).

inh

<i class="Latn mention" lang="ms">taubat</i>

expression of surprised, annoyed, or irritated


tidak apa-apa

From tidak (“not”) + apa-apa (“things”).

it's okay; no problem; it's nothing; it doesn't matter


Tuhan memberkati

(Christianity) God bless, God bless you: a short prayer for the recipient, or a nonliteral well-wishing benediction or valediction culturally inspired by such prayer and thematically concordant with it.


biarin

(literal) synonym of biar (“leave it; don't touch/change it”)

Nah, itu gua. Gua nggak mo aja [laughing] gua emang orangnya ngga pernah mo cerita. Biarin aja. Jadi’, yang kaya lo ke Eropa, katanya lo dikasi duit jajan ama nyokapnya Bule’

2006, James Neil Sneddon, Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian, Pacific Linguistics, page 240:

Well, that’s me. I’m .. [laughing] I’m the sort of person who doesn’t tell things easily. Don’t you worry about that. So, just like when you went to Europe, she said Bule’s mum gave you shopping money

Tapi kayaknya kasar di kaki. Juga kayaknya agak basah nih, Pak. Genteng bocor apa ya? Saya bisa ngerasain nih biarpun gelap.
 Biarin lah….

2009, Chaos@work, My Stupid Boss 2, Gradien Mediatama, page 234:

Biar apa? Biarin.

2023, “Segowes 2022”, in Zine Pancasona “Look BackWard”, volume 20, Sasenitala:

(idiomatic) Colloquial form of biarkan saja or biar; let it be/go, let him/her/them, never mind, whatever, so what, no matter, don’t worry about it, don't bother


bjir

From njir, shortening of anjir. Born in early 2020s, possibly due to a typographic error (the adjacency of b and n on a keyboard).

(text messaging, humorous) bruh; damn; wow


cincong

/t͡ʃiɲ.t͡ʃɔŋ/

(offensive, ethnic slur) ching chong (mimicking especially Chinese speech)


capcipcup

Capcipcup, kembang ucup, pilih mana yang mau dicup.

One two three... I'm choosing someone... who will I choose? (rough translation)

(sometimes childish) the sound made when considering to choose something


apa-apaan

From apa + -an with reduplication at the base word.