adat

A1D2A1T1

noun

Traditional custom or law, in Islamic parts of Southeast Asia.

OriginMalay adat ← Classical Persian عادت ← Arabic عَادَة →
UncommonFirst used 18th c.Scrabble 5
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Meanings

adat1

nounadat (countable and uncountable, plural adats)

plural adats

  1. countableuncountableTraditional custom or law, in Islamic parts of Southeast Asia.First known use 18th c.

    [T]he early-nineteenth-century Padri movement […] was an accelerated programme of religious renewal in West Sumatra, an attempt to cleanse Islam of adat or local customary law and practices.

    2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 254

ADAT2

nounADAT (plural ADATs)

plural ADATs

  1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Alesis Digital Audio Tape: a kind of magnetic tape for storing soundtracks.

Origin

  1. Arabicعَادَة“habit, custom”
  2. Classical Persianعادت
  3. Malayadat
  4. Englishadat

Borrowed from Malay adat, from Classical Persian عادت ('ādat), from Arabic عَادَة (ʕāda, “habit, custom”), from the verb عَوْدَ (ʕawda, “to appertain, to be proper”).

More words from Malay, Classical Persian, Arabic

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Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

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Cite this entry
APA

adat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adat

MLA

“adat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adat. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “adat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/adat.

Source: adat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.