pacu jawi

noun

A traditional bull race in the Tanah Datar region of West Sumatra, Indonesia, where jockeys cling to a wooden plow attached to a pair of bulls, racing across muddy, harvested rice paddies to showcase their cattle's strength and speed, serving as a cultural festival and a way to boost the value of the bulls for sale. The crowd often decides on the best performers.

OriginIndonesian pacu jawi →
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Meanings

noun
  1. IndonesianA traditional bull race in the Tanah Datar region of West Sumatra, Indonesia, where jockeys cling to a wooden plow attached to a pair of bulls, racing across muddy, harvested rice paddies to showcase their cattle's strength and speed, serving as a cultural festival and a way to boost the value of the bulls for sale. The crowd often decides on the best performers.

Origin

  1. Indonesianpacu jawi
  2. Englishpacu jawi

Borrowed from Indonesian pacu jawi; pacu + jawi, literally meaning "bull race".

More words from Indonesian

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

pacu jawi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pacu%20jawi

MLA

“pacu jawi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pacu%20jawi. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pacu jawi,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pacu%20jawi.

Source: pacu jawi on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.