Orang Pendek
/ˈɔːræŋ ˈpɛndɛk/noun
A name used in English-language cryptozoology for a purported small, humanlike forest creature reported mainly in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Did you know?The name is not originally occult: it comes from everyday Malay-Indonesian descriptive language, while its supernatural reputation developed through folklore, eyewitness reports, and modern cryptozoology.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
PMP
*qaRta
“Person or human being; a proposed ancestral source for Malay-Indonesian orang”
Classical Malay
Malay
orang
“A person, human, or people”
Malay and Indonesian
Malay/Indonesian
pendek
“Short or of low height”
20th Century
Indonesian
orang pendek
“Literally “short person,” used as a descriptive name in reports and local discussions of a purported forest being”
Late 20th Century
English
Orang Pendek
“Adopted in English cryptozoological writing as the name of a suspected Sumatran hominid or unknown forest creature”
Modern English
English
Orang Pendek
“A cryptid name associated with alleged sightings in Sumatra”
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