Meanings
plural Sumatras
- SingaporeformerlyA squall or violent rainstorm coming from the south.
In the Straits of Malacca one encounters a squall every night; there they are known by the name of Sumatras, crossing as they do from the island bearing that name.
1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 119 - A chicken of a breed native to the island of Sumatra, formerly used in cock-fighting and now mainly kept for exhibition.
Origin
- Sanskritसमुद्र“sea”
- MalaySumatera
- Arabicسُومَطْرَة
- PortugueseSumatra
- EnglishSumatra
From Portuguese Sumatra, from Arabic سُومَطْرَة (sūmaṭra), from Malay Sumatera, from Sanskrit समुद्र (samudra, “sea”). Mentioned in the 11th century in Sanskrit as समुद्रभूमि (samudrabhūmi, “land of Sumatra”), gradually replacing the earlier सुवर्णद्वीप (suvarṇadvīpa).
More words from Portuguese, Arabic, Malay
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Soematra
- Soematrathe largest island of Indonesia
Arabic سُومَطْرَة
- سُومَطْرَة (sūmaṭra)the largest island of Indonesia
Bengali সুমাত্রা
- সুমাত্রা (śumatra)the largest island of Indonesia
Bulgarian Сума́тра
- Сума́тра (Sumátra)the largest island of Indonesia
Catalan Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Chinese Cantonese 蘇門答臘 /苏门答腊
- 蘇門答臘 /苏门答腊 (sou¹ mun⁴ daap³ laap⁶)the largest island of Indonesia
Chinese Mandarin 蘇門答臘 /苏门答腊
- 蘇門答臘 /苏门答腊 (Sūméndálà)the largest island of Indonesia
Czech Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Danish Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Dutch Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Estonian Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Finnish Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
French Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
German Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Greek Σουμάτρα
- Σουμάτρα (Soumátra)the largest island of Indonesia
Hebrew סומטרה
- סומטרהthe largest island of Indonesia
Hindi सुमात्रा
- सुमात्रा (sumātrā)the largest island of Indonesia
Hungarian Szumátra
- Szumátrathe largest island of Indonesia
Icelandic Súmatra
- Súmatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Indonesian Sumatera
- Sumaterathe largest island of Indonesia
Italian Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Japanese スマトラ
- スマトラ (Sumatora)the largest island of Indonesia
Korean 수마트라
- 수마트라 (Sumateura)the largest island of Indonesia
Latin Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Latvian Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Lithuanian Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Malay Sumatera
- Sumaterathe largest island of Indonesia
Persian سوماترا
- سوماتراthe largest island of Indonesia
Polish Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Portuguese Sumatra, Samatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
- Samatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Romanian Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Russian Сума́тра
- Сума́тра (Sumátra)the largest island of Indonesia
Slovak Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Spanish Sumatra, Sumatera
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
- Sumaterathe largest island of Indonesia
Swedish Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Tagalog Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Tamil சுமாத்திரா
- சுமாத்திரா (cumāttirā)the largest island of Indonesia
Thai สุมาตรา
- สุมาตรา (sùmâatdtraa)the largest island of Indonesia
Turkish Sumatra
- Sumatrathe largest island of Indonesia
Ukrainian Сума́тра
- Сума́тра (Sumátra)the largest island of Indonesia
Urdu سماٹرا
- سماٹراthe largest island of Indonesia
Cite this entry
Sumatra. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sumatra
“Sumatra.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sumatra. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Sumatra,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Sumatra.
Source: Sumatra on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.