mercusuar

Indonesian

Etymology

Compound of mercu +‎ suar, calque of Dutch vuurtoren (“lighthouse”, literally “fire + tower”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /mərt͡ʃuˈsuar/ [mər.t͡ʃuˈsu.ar]
• Rhymes: -ar
• Syllabification: mer‧cu‧su‧ar

Noun

mercusuar (plural mercusuar-mercusuar)

1. lighthouse

   Synonyms: menara api, menara suar, mercu api, rumah api, suar

2. (figurative) monumental and prestigious project, specifically vanity project
3. (zoology) head-and-tail light tetra, beacon fish, beacon tetra (Holopristis ocellifer) [since 2003]

Derived terms

• kemercusuaran

• mercusuar harapan
• mercusuar peradaban

Further reading

• “mercusuar”, 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