kepala

Brunei Malay

Etymology

From Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kə.pa.la/

Noun

kepala

1. (anatomy) head (part of the body)

Derived terms

• kepala rumah
• kepalai
• sekepala

Iban

Etymology

From Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kə.pa.laʔ/

Noun

kepala

1. (anatomy) head (part of the body)
2. (figurative) leader, chief, head

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay kepala, from Classical Malay کڤالا (kepala), from Old Malay [script needed] (kapala), from Pali kapāla, from Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *kapā́las, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kapā́las, from Proto-Indo-European *káp-ōl (“head, bowl”). Doublet of kopra.

• Sense of leader and chief is a semantic loan from Dutch hoofd via Malay.
• The computing sense is a semantic loan from English head.

Displaced native hulu, empu, and ulu.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /kəˈpala/ [kəˈpa.la]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ala
• Syllabification: ke‧pa‧la

Noun

kepala (plural kepala-kepala)

1. (anatomy) head: the part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth and main sense organs

   Synonyms: hulu, kop, tendas, jemala

2. (figurative) leader, chief, head

   Synonyms: ketua, pemimpin

   Kepala suku ― Tribal chief

   Kepala sekolah ― Head teacher (lit. "head of school")

   Synonyms: bas, bos

3. (computing) head: part of a disk drive responsible for reading and writing data
4. short for kepala surat

Derived terms

• berkepala
• kepala-kepalaan
• mengepalai
• mengepalakan

• kepala dingin
• kepala dua
• kepala gudang
• kepala guntur
• kepala kain
• kepala lakon
• kepala lorong
• kepala negara
• kepala negeri
• kepala not
• kepala pasukan
• kepala payung
• kepala sari
• kepala sarung
• kepala sekolah
• kepala stasiun
• kepala stik
• kepala suku
• kepala surat
• kepala tongkat
• kepala udang
• kepala waris
• kepala wilayah
• kepala zakar

Further reading

• “kepala”, 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

kepala

1. romanization of ꦏꦼꦥꦭ

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”). Main anatomy sense mostly displaced native word hulu except in court language.

• Sense of leader and chief is a semantic loan from Dutch hoofd, compare with penghulu.
• The computing sense is a semantic loan from English head.
• Cognate with Japanese 骨 (kawara, “a covering bone, such as the skull or patella”), 瓦 (kawara, “roof tile”).

Pronunciation

• (Southern Peninsular Malaysia Standard) IPA^(key): /kəˈpalə/ [kəˈpa.lə]
  • Rhymes: -alə, -lə, -ə

• (Literary Standard) IPA^(key): /kəˈpala/ [kəˈpa.la]
  • Rhymes: -ala, -la, -a
• Hyphenation: ke‧pa‧la

Noun

kĕpala (Jawi spelling کڤالا, plural kepala-kepala or kepala²)

1. (anatomy) head (part of the body)

   Synonyms: hulu, tendas, jemala

2. top part or layer of something

   Synonym: hulu

   kepala kain: front broad stripe found in some sarong patterns

   kepala susu: cream of milk

   kepala santan: coconut cream

   kepala surat: letterhead

   kepala berita: headline

   kepala lutut: kneecap, patella

3. (figurative) leader, chief, head

   Synonyms: ketua, pemimpin

   Kepala suku ― Tribal chief

   Kepala sekolah ― Head teacher (lit. "head of school")

4. source

   Synonyms: punca, sumber

5. (computing) head: part of a disk drive responsible for reading and writing data.
6. (figurative) mind

   Kata-kata itu terngiang-ngiang dalam kepala

   Those words lingered in his mind

   Synonyms: benak, fikiran

7. (slang) opinion, decision, idea

   Buat kepala sendiri

   To go with your own opinion

   Banyak sangat kepala, tak tahu nak makan mana

   Too many opinions, we can't decide where to eat

8. (slang) mate, partner, buddy, someone or group that you can go with

   Synonym: kaki

   Tak da kepala nak lepak hari ni

   No mate to hang out with today

9. (figurative, metonymic) An individual person

Derived terms

Affixations

• berkepala
• kepala-kepalaan
• mengepalai
• mengepalakan
• sekepala

Compounds

• besar kepala
• kepala air
• kepala angin
• kepala bahu
• kepala batu
• kepala berat
• kepala berita
• kepala busung
• kepala daerah
• kepala desa
• kepala dingin
• kepala dua
• kepala guntur
• kepala kain
• kepala kampung
• kepala karangan
• kepala keluarga
• kepala kereta api
• kepala kodi
• kepala lakon
• kepala lorong
• kepala lutut
• kepala pasukan
• kepala payung
• kepala pemerintahan
• kepala pulau
• kepala putik
• kepala raja
• kepala santan
• kepala sari
• kepala sarung
• kepala suku
• kepala surat
• kepala susu
• kepala tahun
• kepala tirai
• kepala tongkat
• kepala udang
• kepala zakar
• ringan kepala
• sakit kepala

Descendants

• > Indonesian: kepala (inherited)

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 96
• Pijnappel, Jan (1875), “کڤال kapala”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek‎^[1], John Enschede en Zonen, Frederik Muller, page 83
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901), “کڤال kĕpala”, in A Malay-English dictionary‎^[2], Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 521
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932), “kĕpala”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised)‎^[3], volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 561

Further reading

• "kepala" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Maranao

Noun

kepala

1. head