lokun
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Min Nan 老君 (ló-kun), from Malay dukun (“shaman or medicine man”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Singapore, Malaysia" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ləʊ ˈkʊn/
Noun
lokun
- (Singapore and Malaysia) doctor; physician
- 1997 September 25, Crowley’s Magus, “Asian racism”, in soc.culture.singapore[1] (Usenet):
- Just to further convince Phil McCracken, if we Hokkien speakers are talking about a 100% Chinese man who graduated from the NUS Medicine Faculty, we would refer to him as an "ang mo lor kun" - western doctor, as opposed to "teng lung lor kun" or "sinseh" - Chinese traditional doctor, the acupuncture / herbs type.
- 2004, Hean Teik Ong, To Heal the Sick: The Story of Healthcare and Doctors in Penang, 1786 to 2004, page 66:
- 2008, Terry Tan, Stir-fried and Not Shaken, page 30:
- Where this woman learned her herbal skills from, I never knew. Probably some village witch doctor or dukun. It is probably the reason why lor kun means ‘doctor’ in Hokkien, its derivation most telling.
- 2015, Gwee Li Sui, Singathology: 50 New Works by Celebrated Singaporean Writers:
- The lo-kun stared steadily at the computer screen, his finger still, uncertain what to do, unable to understand if some tragic meaning lay behind that long coughing fit.
Usage notes
Used primarily in casual conversation or informal writing and not in more formal written works and discourse.
Translations
doctor — see doctor
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Min Nan
- English terms derived from Min Nan
- English terms derived from Malay
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals
- Singapore English
- Malaysian English
- English terms with quotations
- en:Healthcare occupations