piawai

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay piawai, from Minangkabau piawai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [piˈawai̯]
• Hyphenation: pi‧a‧wai

Adjective

piawai (comparative lebih piawai, superlative paling piawai)

1. skillful, clever

   Synonyms: cakap, cekap, mahir, mampu, pandai, terampil

2. right,
   1. true, conforming to the actual state of reality or fact; factually correct

      Synonyms: benar, betul, tepat

   2. (figuratively) complying with justice, correctness or reason; correct, just, true

      Synonyms: aci, adil

Usage notes

The word is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore usage can be seen in Malay piawai.

Derived terms

• kepiawaian

Further reading

• “piawai”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Malay

Etymology

From Minangkabau piawai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /piawai̯/
• Rhymes: -awai̯, -wai̯, -ai̯

Adjective

piawai (Jawi spelling ڤياواي, comparative lebih piawai, superlative paling piawai)

1. standard (falling within an accepted range of size, amount, power, quality, etc.)

   Synonyms: baku, standard

2. skillful, clever

   Synonyms: cekap, pandai, pintar

3. right, true (conforming to the actual state of reality or fact; factually correct)

   Synonyms: betul, tepat

Noun

piawai (plural piawai-piawai)

1. standard

Usage notes

The word is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Indonesian usage can be seen in Indonesian piawai.

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

Regular affixed derivations:

• pemiawai [agentive / qualitative / instrumental / abstract / measure] (peN-)
• pemiawaian (“standardisation”) [agentive / qualitative / instrumental / abstract / measure + resultative / locative / collective / variety / verbal noun / fruit] (peN- + -an)
• piawaian [resultative / locative / collective / variety / verbal noun / fruit] (-an)
• kepiawaian [abstract / locative] (ke-an)
• memiawaikan [agent focus + causative benefactive] (meN- + -kan)
• dipiawaikan [patient focus + causative benefactive] (di- + -kan)
• terpiawai [agentless action] (teR-)

Descendants

• Indonesian: piawai

Further reading

• "piawai" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
  (also see "piawai" at PRPM first version)