kampung

kam·pung
K5A1M3P3U1N1G2
UK/ˈkʌmpɒŋ/UK/ˈkæm-/UK/kæmˈpɒŋ/US/ˈkʌmˌpɔŋ/

noun

A traditional village.

“Kampung Tanah Merah.”

Meanings

nounkampung (plural kampungs)

plural kampungs · alternative archaic campong · alternative dated kampong

  1. BruneiIndonesiaMalaysiaSingaporeA traditional village.

    Margio seldom saw his mother happy, and often thought of doing things to cheer her up. He would go back to their kampong and look for gifts for her.

    2015, Eka Kurniawan, chapter 4, in Labodalih Sembiring, transl., Man Tiger […], London; New York, N.Y.: Verso, →ISBN, page 107
    1 more example

    They came from solitary huts in the wilderness, from populous campongs, from villages by the sea. At the call of an idea they had left their forests, their clearings, the protection of their rulers, their prosperity, their poverty, the surroundings of their youth and the graves of their fathers.

    1899 September – 1900 July, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in Lord Jim: A Tale, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1900, →OCLC, page 14
  2. SingaporeA district or suburb where a former village once stood.

    Kampung Tanah Merah.

Origin

  1. Malaykampung“enclosure; quarter of a town occupied by a certain nationality; village”
  2. Englishkampung

Borrowed from Malay kampung (“enclosure; quarter of a town occupied by a certain nationality; village”). Doublet of kampang. Cognates * Dutch kampoeng

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 甘榜
  • 甘榜 (gam³ bong¹)traditional village
Chinese Mandarin 甘榜, 甘榜
  • 甘榜 (gānbǎng, gānbōng)traditional village
  • 甘榜 (gānbǎng, gānbōng)district or suburb where a former village once stood
Indonesian kampung
  • kampungtraditional village
Korean 시골
  • 시골 (sigol)traditional village
Malay kampung, desa
  • kampungtraditional village
  • desatraditional village
Thai กำปุง, กำปง
  • กำปุง (kampung)traditional village
  • กำปง (kampong)traditional village
Ukrainian кампонг, кампунг
  • кампонг (kamponh)traditional village
  • кампунг (kampunh)traditional village

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

kampung. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kampung

MLA

“kampung.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kampung. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kampung,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kampung.

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