lurah

Balinese

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Javanese lurah (“chief, head, officer”, literally “plain, valley; depth, gorge, valley”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lu.rah/
• Rhymes: -urah
• Hyphenation: lu‧rah

Noun

lurah (Balinese script ᬮᬸᬭᬄ)

1. chief, leader, ruler
2. an employee who takes care of irrigating rice fields
3. an employee who collects land tax

Further reading

• “lurah”, in Balinese–Indonesian Dictionary [Kamus Bahasa Bali–Indonesia] (in Balinese), Denpasar, Indonesia: The Linguistic Center of Bali Province [Balai Bahasa Provinsi Bali].

Indonesian

Etymology

• Inherited from Malay lurah (“valley; groove”).
• Semantic loan from Javanese ꦭꦸꦫꦃ (lurah, “village chief”, literally “chief”) for the sense of a fourth-level administrative division chief executive officer (compare Old Javanese lurah (“chief, head, officer; plain, valley; ravine, depth, gorge”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlu.rah/
• Rhymes: -rah, -ah, -h
• Hyphenation: lu‧rah

Noun

lurah (plural lurah-lurah or para lurah)

1. (government) the chief executive officer in a subdistrict, urbanized fourth-level administrative division, kelurahan, in Indonesia
2. (Yogyakarta, government) the chief executive officer in a subdistrict, rural fourth-level administrative division, kalurahan, in Yogyakarta

Derived terms

• kelurahan

Noun

lurah (plural lurah-lurah)

1. valley

   Synonyms: lembah, jurang

2. groove

   Synonym: alur

Derived terms

• berlurah

• lurah hidung

Further reading

• “lurah”, 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

lurah

1. romanization of ꦭꦸꦫꦃ

Old Javanese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lurah/
• Hyphenation: lu‧rah

Noun

lurah

1. depth, gorge, valley
2. ravine

   Synonyms: curah, juraṅ, paruṅ

3. plain, valley
4. chief, head, officer

Derived terms

• amañcalurahan

Descendants

• Javanese: ꦭꦸꦫꦃ (lurah, “village chief, chief”)
  • → Indonesian: lurah (semantic loan)
• → Balinese: ᬮᬸᬭᬄ (lurah, “chief, leader, ruler”)

Further reading

• "lurah" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.