Appendix:False friends between Indonesian and Standard Malay (S-Z)
This is a list of Indonesian-Malay false friends, that is, word pairs similar in appearance but different in meaning. Diacritics are shown for clarity in this table (while they are not usually written). Translations may be approximated; see linked entries for details.
| Indonesian | Standard Malay | Translation, Indonesian only |
Translation, Both |
Translation, Standard Malay only |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| saat | saat | jiffy, moment; when, while; during | - | second | |
| sabitan | sabitan | result of sickle; swather, windrower; drepanium | - | conviction | |
| sarjana | sarjana | bachelor's degree; (Muslim) scholar | clever person | master's degree | |
| sarjana muda | sarjana muda | associate's degree | bachelor's degree | ||
| sarkas | sarkas | sarcasm | - | circus | |
| sêjuk | sejuk | cool (having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold) | - | cold (having a low temperature) | |
| sêdêrhana | sederhana | simple | moderate | ||
| sêkolah tinggi | sekolah tinggi | hogeschool | high school, secondary school | ||
| sêkuriti | sékuriti | security (an organization responsible for providing security) | security (proof of ownership of investment instruments; the condition), guarantee | ||
| sêmalam | semalam | - | last night | yesterday | |
| sênang | senang | happy; cheerful; likely; pleasant; loved | - | easy | |
| sêronok | seronok | sensual, sexy (slang) | pleasant | fun, enjoyable | |
| siap | siap | ready | - | done, finished | |
| siasat | siasat | tactic; politics, strategy | * | examination, investigation, inquiry; criticism | All senses are listed in both reference dictionary. The differences of senses are based in prevailing senses. |
| stadium | stadium | stadium (organism life stage); stage, phase (pathology) | - | stadium (sporting venue) | |
| statistik | statistik | - | statistic (single item; a quantity calculated from the data), statistics (systematic collection of data) | statistics (discipline) | |
| stik | stik | stick (rod) | - | steak | |
| sulit | sulit | difficult | complex | confidential; to encrypt (computing) | |
| syal | syal | - | shawl, scarf | shale | |
| tabib | tabib | shaman (traditional healer) | * | doctor, physician | All senses are listed in both reference dictionary. The differences of senses are based in prevailing senses. |
| taburan | taburan | - | sprinkle | distribution | |
| tambang | tambang | tether (rope, cable) | mine (excavation from which ore is extracted) | fare, freight; ferry; load | The sense of mine (excavation) is rare in Standard Malay. |
| tandas | tandas | to explain; to finish | - | toilet, lavatory | |
| tèknik | téknik | technique (practical aspects), engineering | technique (method) | - | |
| tèwas | téwas | dead | - | defeated | |
| tisu | tisu | tissue (woven fabric) | tissue (sheet of absorbent paper) | tissue (aggregation of cells) | |
| tolak | tolak | - | push*, reject | substract | The sense of to push is fossilized in Indonesian. |
| trèn | trén | trend | - | train | |
| turis | turis | tourist | to engrave, to scribe; burin (engraving tool) | ||
| undang-undang | undang-undang | legislation (law enacted by legislature) | law (body of binding rules and regulations, customs and standards) | The sense of law is rare in Indonesia. | |
| undian | undian | lottery | - | vote (instance of voting) | |
| wakil | wakil | vice (in place of; subordinate to) | representative | - | |
| waran | waran | - | warrant (finance sense) | warrant (all senses) |