"datu" meaning in Malay

See datu in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈdatu/, [ˈda.t̪u] Forms: داتو [Jawi], datu-datu [plural], datu² [plural], datuk [alternative], datung [alternative]
Rhymes: -atu, -tu, -u Etymology: From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *datu. Cognate to Javanese ꦫꦠꦸ (ratu). First attested in the Kota Kapur inscription, 686 CE, as Old Malay [script needed] (dātu, “king”) Etymology templates: {{inh|ms|poz-pro|*datu}} Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *datu, {{cog|jv|ꦫꦠꦸ|tr=ratu}} Javanese ꦫꦠꦸ (ratu), {{m+|ms-old|t=king|tr=dātu}} Old Malay [script needed] (dātu, “king”) Head templates: {{ms-noun|j=داتو}} datu (Jawi spelling داتو, plural datu-datu or datu²)
  1. king (a male of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation) Synonyms: raja Derived forms: kedatuan [abstract (alt: ke-an), locative] (ke-an) (alt: ke-an)

Alternative forms

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "lang_code": "id",
      "word": "datu"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ms",
        "2": "poz-pro",
        "3": "*datu"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *datu",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "jv",
        "2": "ꦫꦠꦸ",
        "tr": "ratu"
      },
      "expansion": "Javanese ꦫꦠꦸ (ratu)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ms-old",
        "t": "king",
        "tr": "dātu"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Malay [script needed] (dātu, “king”)",
      "name": "m+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *datu. Cognate to Javanese ꦫꦠꦸ (ratu).\nFirst attested in the Kota Kapur inscription, 686 CE, as Old Malay [script needed] (dātu, “king”)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "داتو",
      "tags": [
        "Jawi"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "datu-datu",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "datu²",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "datuk",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "datung",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "j": "داتو"
      },
      "expansion": "datu (Jawi spelling داتو, plural datu-datu or datu²)",
      "name": "ms-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Malay",
  "lang_code": "ms",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Javanese terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Malay entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 11 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "ms",
          "name": "Monarchy",
          "orig": "ms:Monarchy",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "ms",
          "name": "Occupations",
          "orig": "ms:Occupations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "alt": "ke-an",
          "word": "kedatuan [abstract"
        },
        {
          "alt": "ke-an",
          "roman": "ke-an",
          "word": "locative]"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "king (a male of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation)"
      ],
      "id": "en-datu-ms-noun-HMwpSVqX",
      "links": [
        [
          "king",
          "king"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "raja"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdatu/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈda.t̪u]"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-atu"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-tu"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-u"
    }
  ],
  "word": "datu"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "alt": "ke-an",
      "word": "kedatuan [abstract"
    },
    {
      "alt": "ke-an",
      "roman": "ke-an",
      "word": "locative]"
    }
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "lang_code": "id",
      "word": "datu"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ms",
        "2": "poz-pro",
        "3": "*datu"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *datu",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "jv",
        "2": "ꦫꦠꦸ",
        "tr": "ratu"
      },
      "expansion": "Javanese ꦫꦠꦸ (ratu)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ms-old",
        "t": "king",
        "tr": "dātu"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Malay [script needed] (dātu, “king”)",
      "name": "m+"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *datu. Cognate to Javanese ꦫꦠꦸ (ratu).\nFirst attested in the Kota Kapur inscription, 686 CE, as Old Malay [script needed] (dātu, “king”)",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "داتو",
      "tags": [
        "Jawi"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "datu-datu",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "datu²",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "datuk",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "datung",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "j": "داتو"
      },
      "expansion": "datu (Jawi spelling داتو, plural datu-datu or datu²)",
      "name": "ms-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Malay",
  "lang_code": "ms",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Javanese terms with redundant transliterations",
        "Malay 2-syllable words",
        "Malay entries with incorrect language header",
        "Malay lemmas",
        "Malay nouns",
        "Malay terms derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian",
        "Malay terms inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian",
        "Malay terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "Pages with 11 entries",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Requests for native script for Old Malay terms",
        "Rhymes:Malay/atu",
        "Rhymes:Malay/tu",
        "Rhymes:Malay/u",
        "ms:Monarchy",
        "ms:Occupations"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "king (a male of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "king",
          "king"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "raja"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdatu/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈda.t̪u]"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-atu"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-tu"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-u"
    }
  ],
  "word": "datu"
}

Download raw JSONL data for datu meaning in Malay (1.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Malay dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (96027d6 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.