Minyak
/ˈmiː.njæk/noun
A Malay and Indonesian word meaning oil, especially cooking oil or petroleum.
Did you know?Minyak belongs to an old Austronesian vocabulary layer, showing that oil was important enough in early island societies to retain a recognizable name across many languages.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Austronesian
PAN
*minyak
“Reconstructed term associated with oil or a fatty substance”
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
PMP
*miñak
“Reconstructed Austronesian form meaning oil”
Old Javanese period
Old Javanese
minyak
“Oil or an oily substance”
Medieval to Early Modern period
Malay
minyak
“Oil, including edible or medicinal oil”
Modern period
Indonesian/Malay
minyak
“Oil; cooking oil; petroleum, depending on context”
Modern English usage
English
minyak
“A loanword used mainly in contexts referring to Malay or Indonesian language and culture”
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