Etymology

Changi

C3H4A1N1G2I1

Today it means: A planning area located in the East Region of Singapore. Full definition →

Malay cengal
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The story

  1. Malay · derived fromcengal pasir
  2. Malay · derived fromcengal“Neobalanocarpus heimii, a kind of hardwood tree in the dipterocarp family”
  3. English todayChangi

Uncertain. Several origins have been suggested: * From Malay cengal (“Neobalanocarpus heimii, a kind of hardwood tree in the dipterocarp family”). * From Malay cengal pasir or cengal mata kucing (“Hopea sangal, a tree in the dipterocarp family”). * From the Malay name for a kind of spreading shrub found in the region (Thottea corymbosa). Richard James Wilkinson records chěngai (cengai in modern orthography) as an alternative name for the cengal trees in A Malay–English Dictionary, originally published in 1901. In Singapore, chengai refers to the Neobalanocarpus heimii.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.