pegawai

Indonesian

Etymology

Affixed per- +‎ gawai (“work”), from Malay pegawai. Replaced Dutch ambtenaar (“civil servant”) by Komisi Bahasa Indonesia as published on Kanpō/Berita Pemerintah No.38 Year III Month 3 (2604) in 1944.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pəˈɡawai̯]
• Hyphenation: pê‧ga‧wai

Noun

pêgawai (plural pegawai-pegawai)

1. employee

   Synonyms: karyawan, pekerja

2. (archaic) government officer, official

   Synonym: pejabat

3. (archaic, figurative) tool, equipment, apparatus

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 pegawai.

Derived terms

• kepegawaian

• pegawai administrasi
• pegawai dagang
• pegawai honorer
• pegawai negeri
• pegawai pemerintah

Further reading

• “pegawai”, 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

pe- +‎ gawai

Noun

pegawai (Jawi spelling ڤݢاواي, plural pegawai-pegawai or pegawai²)

1. officer; official

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 pegawai.

References

• Pijnappel, Jan (1875), “ڤݢاوي pĕgawei”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek, John Enschede en Zonen, Frederik Muller, page 100
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901), “ڤݢاوي pĕgawai”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 466
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932), “pĕgawai”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume II, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 227

Further reading

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