rempah

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Malay rempah.

Noun

rempah (countable and uncountable, plural rempahs)

1. (Singapore, Malaysia) A paste of ground herbs and spices.

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /rəmˈpah/ [rəmˈpah]
• Rhymes: -ah
• Syllabification: rem‧pah

Etymology 1

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

Verb

rêmpah (active merempah, passive dirempah)

1. (chiefly dialectal) to run and trample (plants and so on)
2. (archaic) to explore; to wander
3. (archaic) to weed (remove)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Malay rempah, from Old Javanese rĕmpah (“a kind of dish”).

Noun

rêmpah (plural rempah-rempah)

1. spice
2. (cooking) food made from grated young coconut, seasoned, given starch, clenched with hands, then fried

Verb

rêmpah (active merempah, passive dirempah)

1. to spice

Derived terms

• berempah (“spiced”)
• merempah
• merempah-rempah
• merempah-rempahi
• merempahi
• rempah-rempah
• rempah-rempah (“spices; to add various spices to”)
• rempah-rempahi (“to add various spices to”)

• rempah aromatik
• rempah ratus (“various spices”)

Further reading

• “rempah”, 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

Borrowed from Old Javanese rĕmpah (“a kind of dish”). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rəmˈpah/ [rəmˈpah]
• Rhymes: -ah
• Hyphenation: rem‧pah

Noun

rempah (Jawi spelling رمڤه, plural rempah-rempah or rempah-ratus)

1. spice
2. (rare, archaic) concoction, formula, prescription

   Synonyms: campuran, rumusan

3. (obsolete) medicine or drug

   Synonym: ubat

Derived terms

Affixations

• berempah
• dirempah
• dirempahi
• merempah
• merempah-rempahi
• merempahi
• perempah
• rempahi

Descendants

• > Indonesian: rempah (inherited)
• → Tausug: lampa

References

• Pijnappel, Jan (1875), “رمڤه٢ rĕmpah”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek (in Dutch), Haarlem; Amsterdam: John Enschede en Zonen; Frederik Muller, page 189
• Wilkinson, R. J. (1901-1903), “رمڤه rĕmpah”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Singapore; Hong Kong; Shanghai; Yokohama: Kelly & Walsh Ltd., page 339
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932), “rĕmpah”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume II, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 328

Further reading

• "rempah" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
  (also see "rempah" at PRPM first version)