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INDONESIAN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bahu.

shoulder

4 characters2 syllables approx.Bahasa Indonesia language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbahu/Standard-Indonesian[ˈba.hu]Standard-Indonesian
  1. shoulder

  2. edge of musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat, circular metal disc which is hit with a mallet, such as gong (the shoulder of the instrument)

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

* Inherited from Malay bahu, from Classical Malay bahu, from Sanskrit बाहु (bāhu), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *baHźʰúṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰaHȷ́ʰúš, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰús (“arm”). Partially displaced native pundak. Doublet of baju. * Semantic loan from Javanese ꦧꦲꦸ (bahu, “arm, village assistant”), from Old Javanese bāhu (“arm”), from the same Sanskrit बाहु (bāhu). See also Javanese bahudendha (“powerful”), from Old Javanese bāhudaṇḍa (“arm; assistant, guard, protection”, literally “long arm, arm-staff”), from Sanskrit बाहुदण्ड (bāhudaṇḍa, “long arm, arm-staff”).

noun/ˈbahu/Standard-Indonesian[ˈba.hu]Standard-Indonesian
  1. village chief assistant, kepala dusun (Java)

Where this word comes from

* Inherited from Malay bahu, from Classical Malay bahu, from Sanskrit बाहु (bāhu), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *baHźʰúṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰaHȷ́ʰúš, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰús (“arm”). Partially displaced native pundak. Doublet of baju. * Semantic loan from Javanese ꦧꦲꦸ (bahu, “arm, village assistant”), from Old Javanese bāhu (“arm”), from the same Sanskrit बाहु (bāhu). See also Javanese bahudendha (“powerful”), from Old Javanese bāhudaṇḍa (“arm; assistant, guard, protection”, literally “long arm, arm-staff”), from Sanskrit बाहुदण्ड (bāhudaṇḍa, “long arm, arm-staff”).

noun/ˈbahu/Standard-Indonesian[ˈba.hu]Standard-Indonesian
  1. newly burned land ready for planting

    dialectal
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Bakumpai bahu (“field”).

adj/ˈbahu/Standard-Indonesian[ˈba.hu]Standard-Indonesian
  1. many

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

Learned borrowing from Old Javanese bahu (“many, much, frequent”), from Sanskrit बहु (bahu).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.