Word origins

• kappalA ship, especially a square-rigged vessel with top and top-gallant masts.
• karung guniA traditional scrap dealer or rag-and-bone man who visits residential zones to collect unwanted items.
• kebayaA traditional blouse worn by women in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and Southern Thailand.
• ke belakang pusingTo make an about-turn; more precisely, to turn 180 degrees clockwise, then stomp one’s left foot.
• kek lapisA layered cake, traditionally served in Sarawak, Malaysia on special occasions.
• kelongA wooden offshore platform for fishermen found in Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore.
• Keningau MurutThe Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Murut people of Borneo.
• kerbauA water buffalo.
• keropokA type of deep-fried cracker made with starch and flavoured with seafood
• keropok lekorA traditional Malay fish cracker made with sago flour.
• ketapangThe tropical tree Terminalia catappa.
• Ketuanan MelayuAn ethnic supremacist ideology in Malaysia that asserts the superiority of ethnic Malays over minorities such as the Chinese and Indians.
• ketupatAn Asian dumpling made from rice wrapped in a woven palm-leaf pouch and boiled.
• kiaboocaAmboyna wood, the reddish wood taken from burls of Pterocarpus indicus.
• kilatImpressive, top-notch or outstanding.
• Kota BharuThe capital city of Kelantan, Malaysia.
• Kota KinabaluThe capital city of Sabah, Malaysia, formerly known as Jesselton.
• koyakspoilt, damaged
• koyokA phoney or fraudulent item; anything deceptively promoted as genuine or of high quality.
• KristangSynonym of Malacca Creole Portuguese.
• Kuala LumpurA federal territory, the capital and largest city of Malaysia, located in the western part of the country.
• Kuala TerengganuThe capital city of Terengganu, Malaysia.
• Kubang PasuA district of Kedah, Malaysia.
• KudatThe district capital of Kudat district, Sabah, Malaysia.
• kuihBite-sized snack or dessert foods in Malaysia and nearby countries, usually made from rice and often brightly coloured.
• kuih kosuiA traditional Malaysian steamed rice cake made with tapioca flour and rice flour, flavoured with palm sugar and pandan, and eaten with grated coconut.
• kuih tartA bite-sized buttery, crumbly pastry filled with pineapple jam and served during festivities in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei.
• Lahad DatuThe district capital of Lahad Datu district, Sabah, Malaysia.
• lalangcogon grass (Imperata cylindrica), a panicoid grass.
• langgarAn Ismaili shrine and burial site, often decorated with rocks.
• langsuirIn Malaysian folklore: a vampire which is the revenant of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth, and which seeks the blood of newborn children.
• lecehTroublesome
• lobangA good deal or opportunity; pertaining to job offers, business opportunities or sales.
• lutungAny of a group of Old World monkeys, making up the genus Trachypithecus, with a rather slim build and a long tail.
• mak nyahA trans woman.
• mampusA large number.
• manjakaniThe galls of the Aleppo oak.
• mata-mataA police officer.
• mat rempitan illegal street racer, especially a young male biker who does stunts on a motorbike.
• MBSJSubang Jaya City Council, the city council that governs the city of Subang Jaya.
• MBSPSeberang Perai City Council, the city council that governs the city of Seberang Prai.
• melengketA soft form of copal.
• menteri besarthe head of government of a state with monarch
• mi gorengfried noodles
• mukimA level of administrative division used in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and Singapore.
• MyKadan identity card carried by all Malaysian citizens, that is also used for electronic payments for public transport.
• nacodahThe captain of a boat or other vessel.
• nasi gorengIn Malaysian and Indonesian cookery: a dish of savoury fried rice with a variety of ingredients including meat (occasionally also fish) and a sliced omelette or fried egg.
• nasi lemakA fragrant rice dish cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaf, commonly found in Malaysia and neighbouring areas with significant Malay populations.
• Negara Brunei DarussalamThe full name of the nation of Brunei.
• Negeri SembilanA state in western Malaysia. Capital: Seremban.
• Orang LautAny of several seafaring ethnic groups and tribes living around Singapore, peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Riau Islands.
• orankayIn the Malay Archipelago, a person of distinction, a chief or noble.
• otak-otakGrilled fish cake wrapped inside a banana leaf; a popular snack food in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore.
• pakatTo conspire; to collude.
• Pangkal PinangA city, the provincial capital of the Bangka Belitung Islands, Indonesia.
• pantangtaboo; ritual prohibition
• pantunSynonym of pantoum.
• pasar malamA night market.
• Pasir RisA town in the eastern part of Singapore.
• pawangA Malay shaman.
• PERHILITANDepartment of Wildlife and National Parks, an organisation set up by the Malaysian government to preserve wildlife and national parks in Peninsular Malaysia.
• petaistink bean, bitter bean (Parkia speciosa)
• piculA traditional South and East Asian unit of weight, based upon the load of a shoulder pole and varying by place and over time but usually standardized at about 60 kg.
• pikulA surname.
• pondanTransvestite, ladyboy
• pulasanThe fruit of the tropical tree Nephelium ramboutan-ake (syn. N. mutabile)
• Pulau BraniPulau Brani (an island of the Central Region, Singapore)
• Pulau TekongAn island of the North-East Region, Singapore, which is currently used as a military base.
• rabakOut of control, messed up; (by extension) terrible.
• ranjauSynonym of punji (“sharpened stick set in a pit etc. as a trap”).
• rilekTo relax; to chill out or loiter, doing nothing in particular.
• roti canaiAn Indian-influenced flatbread found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
• roti prataSynonym of roti canai.
• Sabak BernamA district of Selangor, Malaysia.
• sama-samaThe same; identical.
• samsengA thug; a gangster.
• sapanWood of a timber tree of species Biancaea sappan (syn. Caesalpinia sappan) that also produces a red dye.
• saputo eat up
• sawahA rice paddy.
• Seberang PeraiA city in Penang, Malaysia, consisting of the peninsular part of Penang. City centre: Butterworth.
• seladangThe Malayan gaur.
• selekehSlovenly, unkempt.
• senangRelaxed, easy (of a job, etc.)
• sengetAskew, uneven, not straight.
• sepak takrawA sport of Southeast Asia, in which a small rattan ball is kicked back and forth over a net.
• serayameranti
• Shah AlamThe capital city of Selangor, Malaysia.
• shiokDelightful, pleasurable.
• sirihA vining plant of Sumatra, whose leaves may be chewed with betel nuts or used medicinally to shrink the vagina after childbirth.
• songketA type of cloth made of silk or cotton interwoven with metallic threads which form intricate patterns and motifs.
• songkokAn Asian cap resembling a fez, worn mostly by male Muslims.
• sotongSquid; cuttlefish.
• sumpahTo promise; to earnestly swear that something is true.
• sumpitThe poison dart used in the sumpitan, or Malay blowpipe.
• sumpitanThe sumpit.
• surauA small mosque or other Islamic assembly building in parts of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.
• syairMalay poetry that is made up of four-line stanzas
• Tanjong KatongA residential neighbourhood and a subzone of Marine Parade in the Central Region of Singapore.
• tapaiA traditional Asian food made from fermented carbohydrate, such as rice or cassava.