jambu

See also: jambū

English

Etymology 1

Noun

jambu (plural jambus)

1. Alternative form of jambul.

Etymology 2

Semantic extension from Malay jambu, which originated from Sanskrit जम्बु (jambu, “a fruit or a blood pear”).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒʌmbʊ/

Adjective

jambu (comparative more jambu, superlative most jambu)

1. (Singapore, colloquial, informal) Cute, adorable or beautiful.
   • 2000 2 December, m0bius, soc.culture.singapore

     You discover that she has SISTERS, who are also very jambu.

   • 2007 August 27, http://her-whimsical-escapade.blogspot.sg:

     She has this healthy glow, almost like she's golden skinned, but oh so jambu lah!

   • 2008 26 July, CR[7], Singapore Bikes Forum

     got this mat saleh soooo jambu.

   • 2011 April 9, Salmah, DACE Oct 2010:

     Add me pls . There are only 5 Salmah Samions ! The most jambu looking profile is me lah !

   • 2014 October 16, https://web.archive.org/web/20160910012100/https://faithinloveandyou.wordpress.com/:

     I also wanna look jambu also what on that 2-day event.

   • 2014 December 6, theatelierweddings, Instagram:

     My very jambu Shahida for her engagement today. I have a thing for braces girls.

   • 2015 August 1, figo16, Singapore Hardware Zone Forum:

     don't sabo that minah jambu lah.

   • 2015 December 21, Farhan, All Singapore Stuff:

     A reader has shared with us a Facebook post by jambu ICA officer Adilla Ramli. She gives her view on the recent ICA jams.

Usage notes

Used to describe women. Does not have any sexual innuendo. Commonly found in speech and electronic media. Uncommon in newspapers and print materials.

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• djamboe (1901–1947)
• djambu (1947–1972)

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒambu/ [ˈd͡ʒam.bu]
• Rhymes: -ambu
• Syllabification: jam‧bu

Etymology 1

From Malay jambu, from Sanskrit जम्बु (jambu, “rose apple”).

Noun

jambu (plural jambu-jambu) (Classifier: buah)

1. rose apple (any of various Syzygium species)
2. (loosely) guava (Psidium guajava)

   Synonyms: jambu batu, jambu biji

Hyponyms

• jambu air (“water apple, Syzygium aqueum”)
• jambu air mawar (“Malabar plum, Syzygium jambos”)
• jambu batu (“guava, Psidium guajava”)
• jambu biji (“guava, Psidium guajava”)
• jambu bol (“Malay apple, Syzygium malaccense”)
• jambu bol mini (“Bellucia axinanthera”)
• jambu ceri (“cherry guava, Psidium cattleyanum”)
• jambu dersana (“Malay apple, Syzygium malaccense”)
• jambu jamblang (“Java plum, Syzygium cumini”)
• jambu keling (“Java plum, Syzygium cumini”)
• jambu kepal (“Malay apple, Syzygium malaccense”)
• jambu madu deli hijau (“Java apple, Syzygium samarangense”)
• jambu madu hijau (“Java apple, Syzygium samarangense”)
• jambu mawar (“Malabar plum, Syzygium jambos”)
• jambu mete (“cashew, Anacardium occidentale”)
• jambu monyet (“cashew, Anacardium occidentale”)
• jambu semarang (“Java apple, Syzygium samarangense”)

Etymology 2

Noun

jambu (plural jambu-jambu)

1. alternative form of jambul

Further reading

• “jambu”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Javanese

Romanization

jambu

1. romanization of ꦗꦩ꧀ꦧꦸ

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjæ̂ːm.bʊ/

Noun

jámbu

1. instrumental singular of jámbas (“iamb”)

Malay

Etymology

From Sanskrit जम्बु (jambu, “rose apple”) via Old Javanese. Cognate of Javanese ꦗꦩ꧀ꦧꦸ (jambu), Chinese 染霧／染雾.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒambu/ [ˈd͡ʒam.bu]
• Rhymes: -ambu, -u
• Hyphenation: jam‧bu

Noun

jambu (Jawi spelling جمبو, plural jambu-jambu or jambu²)

1. Generic term for any plant bearing pear-like or bulging fruit from the Myrtaceae family, especially in the Syzygium genus or otherwise.
2. wax apple or rose apple (Sygyzium samarangense)

   Synonyms: jambu air mawar, jambu mawar

3. Malay apple (Sygyzium malaccense).

   Synonyms: jambu bol, jambu bubul, jambu dersana, jambu keling, jambu tersana

Compounds

• jambu air
• jambu air mawar
• jambu batu
• jambu biji
• jambu bol
• jambu bubul
• jambu dersana
• jambu golok
• jambu keling
• jambu madu
• jambu mawar
• jambu monyet
• jambu padang
• jambu susu
• jambu tersana
• jambulang
• merah jambu

Adjective

jambu (comparative lebih jambu, superlative paling jambu)

1. (colloquial, informal) cute, adorable or beautiful.

Descendants

• Indonesian: jambu

References

• Edi Sedyawati; Ellya Iswati; Kusparyati Boedhijono; Dyah Widjajanti D. (1994), Kosakata Bahasa Sanskerta dalam Bahasa Melayu Masa Kini, Jakarta, Indonesia: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa. Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, →ISBN, page 83
• Pijnappel, Jan (1875), “جمبو djamboe”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek, John Enschede en Zonen, Frederik Muller, page 103
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901), “جمبو jambu”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 96
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932), “jambu”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 441

Further reading

• "jambu" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
  (also see "jambu" at PRPM first version)

Maltese

Verb

jambu

1. third-person plural imperfect of jambi

Old Javanese

Etymology

From Sanskrit जम्बु (jambu), जम्बू (jambū).

Noun

jambu (Old Javanese spelling ꦗꦩ꧀ꦧꦸ)

1. rose apple tree and its fruit
   • Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa, 145.5:

     Hana ta jambu si Sudarśana ṅaranya, tumuwuh karnah kidul.

Pali

Alternative forms

• jambū

Alternative scripts

• 𑀚𑀫𑁆𑀩𑀼 (Brahmi script)
• जम्बु (Devanagari script)
• জম্বু (Bengali script)
• ජම‍්බු (Sinhalese script)
• ဇမ္ဗု or ၹမ္ၿု or ၹမ်ၿု (Burmese script)
• ชมฺพุ or ชัมพุ (Thai script)
• ᨩᨾᩛᩩ (Tai Tham script)
• ຊມ຺ພຸ or ຊັມພຸ (Lao script)
• ជម្ពុ (Khmer script)
• 𑄎𑄟𑄴𑄝𑄪 (Chakma script)

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit जम्बु (jambu).

Noun

jambu f

1. the rose apple tree

Declension

Declension table of "jambu" (feminine)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	jambu	jambuyo or jambū
Accusative (second)	jambuṃ	jambuyo or jambū
Instrumental (third)	jambuyā	jambūhi or jambūbhi
Dative (fourth)	jambuyā	jambūnaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	jambuyā	jambūhi or jambūbhi
Genitive (sixth)	jambuyā	jambūnaṃ
Locative (seventh)	jambuyā or jambuyaṃ	jambūsu
Vocative (calling)	jambu	jambuyo or jambū

Noun

jambu

1. vocative singular of jambū, alternative form of the word above

Noun

jambu n

1. rose apple (the fruit)

Declension

Declension table of "jambu" (neuter)

Case / Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	jambu	jambūni or jambū
Accusative (second)	jambuṃ	jambūni or jambū
Instrumental (third)	jambunā	jambūhi or jambūbhi
Dative (fourth)	jambussa or jambuno	jambūnaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	jambusmā or jambumhā	jambūhi or jambūbhi
Genitive (sixth)	jambussa or jambuno	jambūnaṃ
Locative (seventh)	jambusmiṃ or jambumhi	jambūsu
Vocative (calling)	jambu	jambūni or jambū

References

• Pali Text Society (1921–1925), “jambu”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead
• Childers, Robert Caesar, Dictionary of the Päli Language, London: Trübner & Company, 1875.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjam.bu/
• Rhymes: -ambu
• Syllabification: jam‧bu

Noun

jambu

1. genitive singular of jamb

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Tupi inhambu.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʒɐ̃ˈbu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʒɐ̃ˈbu/

Noun

jambu m (plural jambus)

1. (Brazil) paracress (Acmella oleracea)
   • 2024 August 8, Venceslau Borlina Filho, “3 dias em Belém: veja roteiro para desbravar a capital do Pará, sede da COP30”, in Folha de S.Paulo‎^[1]:

     Não deixe de comer um filé de filhote, peixe típico amazônico. Também são servidos pirarucu, dourada e pescada, entre outros. Quase tudo com jambu e tucupi.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

See also

• tacacá

Further reading

• “jambu”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “jambu”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• Acmella oleracea on the Portuguese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^pt

Yakan

Noun

jambu

1. tassel
2. fringe