Bima Sakti

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay Bima Sakti, from Javanese ꦧꦶꦩꦱꦼꦏ꧀ꦠꦶ (bimasekti), ultimately put together from Sanskrit भीम (bhīma). (a character from the Mahabharata, a popular epic in Javanese culture) and Sanskrit शक्ति (śakti, “magical power”). This was derived from a Javanese myth that imagines the Milky Way in the sky as Bhima (the white stars) fighting a great snake (the black stripes).

Proper noun

Bima Sakti

1. (nonstandard, common) the Milky Way.

Alternative forms

• Bimasakti (standard)

Malay

Alternative forms

• Bimasakti (esp. Indonesia)

Etymology

Borrowing from Javanese ꦧꦶꦩꦱꦼꦏ꧀ꦠꦶ (bimasekti), ultimately put together from Sanskrit भीम (bhīma, “Bhima”, literally “a character from the Mahabharata, a popular epic in Javanese culture”)) and Sanskrit शक्ति (śakti, “magical power”). This was derived from a Javanese myth that imagines the Milky Way in the sky as Bhima (the white stars) fighting a great snake (the black stripes).

Proper noun

Bima Sakti

1. the Milky Way.

   Synonym: Bintang Temabur

References

• Crawford, John (1852) A Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay Language, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., page 29
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901) “بيم bima”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 145
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “bima”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 140

Further reading

• “Bima Sakti” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.