Etymology

wayang

W4A1Y4A1N1G2

Today it means: A theatrical performance of mythological events employing puppets or human dancers in Malaysia and Indonesia (especially Java). Full definition →

Old Javanese wayaṅ ← Malay wayang
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Malay · borrowed fromwayang
  2. Old Javanese · derived fromwayaṅ
  3. English todaywayang

Transliteration of Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination; puppetry”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ via Malay wayang. Cognate with Dutch wajang.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.