pegawai
Indonesian
editEtymology
editAffixed per- + gawai (“work”), from Malay pegawai.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editpêgawai (first-person possessive pegawaiku, second-person possessive pegawaimu, third-person possessive pegawainya)
- employee
- (archaic) government officer, official
- Synonym: pejabat
- (archaic, figurative) tool, equipment, apparatus
Usage notes
editThe word is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore usage can be seen in Malay pegawai.
Derived terms
editFurther reading
edit- “pegawai” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.
Malay
editEtymology
editNoun
editpegawai (Jawi spelling ڤݢاواي, plural pegawai-pegawai, informal 1st possessive pegawaiku, 2nd possessive pegawaimu, 3rd possessive pegawainya)
Usage notes
editThe word is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Indonesian usage can be seen in Indonesian pegawai.
References
edit- Pijnappel, Jan (1875) “ڤݢاوي pĕgawei”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek, John Enschede en Zonen, Frederik Muller, page 100
- Wilkinson, Richard James (1901) “ڤݢاوي pĕgawai”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 466
- Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “pĕgawai”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume II, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 227
Further reading
edit- “pegawai” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.