kuasa

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /kuˈasa/ [kuˈa.sa]
• Rhymes: -asa
• Syllabification: ku‧a‧sa

Etymology 1

From Malay kuasa, ke- +‎ *wasa, from Javanese ꦏꦸꦮꦱ (kuwasa), ꦏꦮꦱ (kawasa), from Old Javanese kawaśa, from Sanskrit वश (vaśa, “authority, power, control, dominion”).

• Semantic loan from Dutch mandaat (“mandate”).

Noun

kuasa (plural kuasa-kuasa)

1. power:
   1. the ability to do or undergo something

      Synonym: tenaga

   2. the ability to coerce, influence or control
   3. (statistics) the probability that a statistical test will reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true
2. authority

   Synonym: otoritas

3. (physics) force (anything that has the power to produce a physical effect)

   Synonym: daya (Malay)

4. mandate

   Synonym: mandat

Derived terms

• berkekuasaan
• berkuasa
• kekuasaan
• kepenguasaan
• menguasai
• menguasakan
• penguasa
• penguasaan
• perkosa
• perkosaan
• sekuasa-kuasanya
• sekuasanya
• terkuasai

• kuasa asuh
• kuasa hukum
• kuasa ilahi
• kuasa lunak
• kuasa meteorologi
• kuasa pemegang saham
• kuasa pengguna anggaran
• kuasa penuh
• kuasa pertambangan
• kuasa usaha

Related terms

• kawasan

Etymology 2

Ultimately from Sanskrit अङ्कुश (aṅkuśa, “hook, elephant-driver's hook”). Doublet of kusa.

Noun

kuasa (plural kuasa-kuasa)

1. goad, ankus

   Synonym: kusa

Further reading

• “kuasa”, 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

Malay

Etymology

From Javanese ꦏꦸꦮꦱ (kuwasa), ꦏꦮꦱ (kawasa), from Sanskrit वश (vaśa, “authority, power, control, dominion”). Reconstructed as ke- +‎ *wasa.

Pronunciation

• (Baku) IPA^(key): /ˈkwasa/ [ˈkwa.sa]
• (schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ˈkwasə/ [ˈkwa.sə]
• Rhymes: -asa, -sa

• Audio (Malaysia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a

Noun

kuasa (Jawi spelling کواس, plural kuasa-kuasa or kuasa²)

1. power

   Synonym: tenaga

   1. (mathematics) product of equal factors.

      Synonym: pangkat (Indonesia)

   2. (physics) rate of doing work or transferring energy.

      Synonym: daya (Indonesia)

2. strength

   Synonym: kekuatan

3. authority

   Synonym: autoriti

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

Regular affixed derivations:

• kekuasaan [abstract / locative] (ke-an)
• penguasa [agentive / qualitative / instrumental / abstract / measure] (peN-)
• berkuasa [stative / habitual] (beR-)
• menguasai [agent focus + causative (locative) benefactive] (meN- + -i)
• menguasakan [agent focus + causative benefactive] (meN- + -kan)
• kuasaan [timespan / emotion] (-an)

Related terms

• kawasan
• kusa / kosa

Descendants

• > Indonesian: kuasa (inherited)
• → Min Nan: 掛卅／挂卅 (kòa-sa̍p), 掛些／挂些 (kòa-se), 掛沙／挂沙 (kòa-sa)
• → Tagalog: kawasa
• → Tausug: kawasa

References

• Kosakata Bahasa Sanskerta dalam Bahasa Melayu Masa Kini, Jakarta, Indonesia: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa. Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 1994, →ISBN, pages 100-1
• Pijnappel, Jan (1875), “کواس koewasa”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek, John Enschede en Zonen, Frederik Muller, pages 91-2
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901), “کواس kuwasa”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 542
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932), “kuasa”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 616

Further reading

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