kerajaan

Brunei Malay

Etymology

From ke- +‎ raja +‎ -an. Either cognate with or derived from Malay kerajaan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kə.ra.d͡ʒa.ʔan/
• (contraction) IPA^(key): /kra.d͡ʒa.ʔan/

Noun

kerajaan

1. government of a country or state

---

Indonesian

Etymology

Affixed ke- +‎ raja +‎ -an, from Malay kerajaan, from Classical Malay kerajaan (“royal, become king”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kəraˈd͡ʒaan]
• Hyphenation: kê‧ra‧ja‧an

Noun

kêrajaan (first-person possessive kerajaanku, second-person possessive kerajaanmu, third-person possessive kerajaannya)

1. kingdom
   1. A realm having a king and/or queen as its actual or nominal sovereign.
   2. (taxonomy) A rank in the classification of organisms, below domain and above phylum; a taxon at that rank
2. (obsolete) kingship

Synonyms

• (nation having monarch as supreme ruler) monarki

Derived terms

• kerajaan absolut
• kerajaan konstitusional
• kerajaan mutlak
• kerajaan parlementer

 

Verb

kêrajaan

1. (obsolete) to become a king

   Jika ia kerajaan, tiada akan sempurna negeri ini. ― If he becomes a king, this nation will never be perfect.

Usage notes

The 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 kerajaan.

See also

• kesultanan (“sultanate”), kekhalifahan (“caliphate”), kekaisaran (“empire”)

Further reading

• “kerajaan” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

---

Malay

Etymology

ke- +‎ raja +‎ -an

Noun

kerajaan (Jawi spelling کراجاءن‎, plural kerajaan-kerajaan, informal 1st possessive kerajaanku, impolite 2nd possessive kerajaanmu, 3rd possessive kerajaannya)

1. (Brunei, Malaysia) government (an organisation which has the power to enact and legislate laws within its area of jurisdiction)

   Synonym: pemerintah

2. kingdom

Usage notes

The word is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Indonesian usage can be seen in Indonesian kerajaan.

• The government sense prevail in Malaysia and Brunei due to monarchic government.
• In Singapore, foreign government can be referred as either kerajaan or pemerintah. However, Singaporean government always referred as pemerintah, which has no monarchic connotations.
• In Indonesia, kerajaan has sense of kingdom only. Government always translated as pemerintah, which has no monarchic connotations.

Descendants

• Indonesian: kerajaan

Further reading

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