priayi

Indonesian

Etymology

From Javanese ꦥꦿꦶꦪꦪꦶ (priyayi).

• from Javanese para (ꦥꦫ, “group, plural marker”) +‎ yayi (ꦪꦪꦶ, “[royal] younger sibling”).
• borrowed from Sanskrit प्रिय (priya, “beloved”). Doublet of pria.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [priˈaji]
• Hyphenation: pri‧a‧yi

Noun

priayi (plural priayi-priayi, first-person possessive priayiku, second-person possessive priayimu, third-person possessive priayinya)

1. priyayi: the Dutch-era class of the nobles of the robe, as opposed to royal nobility or ningrat in Java.

Affixed terms

• kepriayian

 

Compounds

• priayi bestir

 

Further reading

• “priayi” 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.