Meanings
- A literary and prose language based on Old Javanese with a large number of Sanskrit loanwords, and used on the islands of Java, Bali, and Lombok.
They speak the Javanese and Kawi languages, which they write in a native character. They are now Mahometans in Java, but Brahmins in Bali and Lombock.
1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 4401 more example
The theory that Balinese religion was a branch of Indian Hinduism led the society to believe that the literature of ancient Bali should be in the classical language of India, but in fact the Kawi language has absolutely no grammatical connection to Sanskrit.
2012, Adrian Vickers, Bali: A Paradise Created, 2nd edition, Tuttle, page 118 - The script used in writing this language.
Origin
- Sanskritकवि
- EnglishKawi
From Sanskrit कवि (kavi).
More words from Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 卡維文 /卡维文
- 卡維文 /卡维文 (kǎwéiwén)Ancient writing system
Finnish kawi
- kawiAncient writing system
Hindi कावि लिपि
- कावि लिपि (kāvi lipi)Ancient writing system
Russian кави
- кави (kavi)Ancient writing system
Tagalog Kawi
- KawiAncient writing system
Thai อักษรกวิ
- อักษรกวิAncient writing system
Cite this entry
Kawi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kawi
“Kawi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kawi. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Kawi,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kawi.
Source: Kawi on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.