baku

See also: bąku, Baku, Bakú, and Bakü

English

A baku, sculpture at Konnoh Hachimangu Shrine, Shibuya, Tokyo

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 獏 (“spirit that feeds on nightmares”).

Noun

baku

1. (Japanese mythology) A type of supernatural being said to devour nightmares.
   • 2005, David Booth, Story Drama, 2nd edition, Pembroke Publishers, page 49,

     The creature explained that he was a baku. A baku eats dreams and nightmares. To a baku, a bad dream is delicious!

   • 2008, "Baku", entry in Brenda Rosen, The Mythical Creatures Bible, Octopus Publishing Group, page 113,

     A person awakening from a nightmare should call three times saying, "Baku, eat my dreams." Thus summoned, the Baku will turn bad omens into good fortune by devouring evil influences.

   • 2012, Kris Bradley, Mrs. B's Guide to Household Witchery, Weiser Books, page 28:

     Shouting out "Devour my dream, Baku!" is said to bring Baku to a child's side to take away his or her bad dreams. Not only does Baku take the dreams away, but he also leaves good fortune in their place.

Ambonese Malay

Pronoun

baku

1. one another, each other

Esperanto

Verb

baku

1. imperative of baki

Finnish

Etymology

Clipping of bakteeri +‎ -u

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɑku/, [ˈbɑ̝ku]
• Rhymes: -ɑku
• Hyphenation^(key): ba‧ku

Noun

baku

1. (slang, biology) Synonym of bakteeri (“bacterium”)

Declension

Inflection of baku (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		baku	bakut
genitive		bakun	bakujen
partitive		bakua	bakuja
illative		bakuun	bakuihin
		singular	plural
nominative		baku	bakut
accusative	nom.	baku	bakut
	gen.	bakun
genitive		bakun	bakujen
partitive		bakua	bakuja
inessive		bakussa	bakuissa
elative		bakusta	bakuista
illative		bakuun	bakuihin
adessive		bakulla	bakuilla
ablative		bakulta	bakuilta
allative		bakulle	bakuille
essive		bakuna	bakuina
translative		bakuksi	bakuiksi
abessive		bakutta	bakuitta
instructive		—	bakuin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of baku (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative bakuni bakuni accusative nom. bakuni bakuni gen. bakuni genitive bakuni bakujeni partitive bakuani bakujani inessive bakussani bakuissani elative bakustani bakuistani illative bakuuni bakuihini adessive bakullani bakuillani ablative bakultani bakuiltani allative bakulleni bakuilleni essive bakunani bakuinani translative bakukseni bakuikseni abessive bakuttani bakuittani instructive — — comitative — bakuineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative bakusi bakusi accusative nom. bakusi bakusi gen. bakusi genitive bakusi bakujesi partitive bakuasi bakujasi inessive bakussasi bakuissasi elative bakustasi bakuistasi illative bakuusi bakuihisi adessive bakullasi bakuillasi ablative bakultasi bakuiltasi allative bakullesi bakuillesi essive bakunasi bakuinasi translative bakuksesi bakuiksesi abessive bakuttasi bakuittasi instructive — — comitative — bakuinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative bakumme bakumme accusative nom. bakumme bakumme gen. bakumme genitive bakumme bakujemme partitive bakuamme bakujamme inessive bakussamme bakuissamme elative bakustamme bakuistamme illative bakuumme bakuihimme adessive bakullamme bakuillamme ablative bakultamme bakuiltamme allative bakullemme bakuillemme essive bakunamme bakuinamme translative bakuksemme bakuiksemme abessive bakuttamme bakuittamme instructive — — comitative — bakuinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative bakunne bakunne accusative nom. bakunne bakunne gen. bakunne genitive bakunne bakujenne partitive bakuanne bakujanne inessive bakussanne bakuissanne elative bakustanne bakuistanne illative bakuunne bakuihinne adessive bakullanne bakuillanne ablative bakultanne bakuiltanne allative bakullenne bakuillenne essive bakunanne bakuinanne translative bakuksenne bakuiksenne abessive bakuttanne bakuittanne instructive — — comitative — bakuinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative bakunsa bakunsa accusative nom. bakunsa bakunsa gen. bakunsa genitive bakunsa bakujensa partitive bakuaan bakuansa bakujaan bakujansa inessive bakussaan bakussansa bakuissaan bakuissansa elative bakustaan bakustansa bakuistaan bakuistansa illative bakuunsa bakuihinsa adessive bakullaan bakullansa bakuillaan bakuillansa ablative bakultaan bakultansa bakuiltaan bakuiltansa allative bakulleen bakullensa bakuilleen bakuillensa essive bakunaan bakunansa bakuinaan bakuinansa translative bakukseen bakuksensa bakuikseen bakuiksensa abessive bakuttaan bakuttansa bakuittaan bakuittansa instructive — — comitative — bakuineen bakuinensa

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbaku/ [ˈba.ku]
• Rhymes: -aku
• Syllabification: ba‧ku

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Manado Malay baku-, from Ternate maku-.

Adverb

baku

1. (chiefly dialectal, eastern Indonesia) mutually, reciprocally, each other, one another

   Synonyms: saling, satu dengan lain, satu sama lain

Etymology 2

Uncertain, probably via Malay.

• For the first and third senses, from Javanese ꦧꦏꦸ (baku, “main, essential, basic; rice-field given to a village head instead of salary”).
• For the second sense, probably fr Minangkabau baku (“frozen”) (cognate with beku).
• Or probably from the same origin as etymology 1, from Manado Malay baku- (“each other”).

Noun

baku (plural baku-baku)

1. core, base, fundamental

   Synonyms: pokok, dasar, utama

2. standard

   Synonym: standar

   bahasa baku ― standard language

3. (dialectal, Java) members of the village community who are the core population whom own agricultural land, houses and yards

Affixations

• bakukan (“to standardize”)
• kebakuan (“standardness”)
• pembakuan (“standardization”)

Compounds

• bahan baku (“raw material”)
• bahasa baku (“standard language”)

Etymology 2

From Wolio baku (“provision”).

Noun

baku (uncountable)

1. (dialect) assistance from family members to the bride and groom as provisions for them to enter a new household

Etymology 3

From Tolaki.

Noun

baku (plural baku-baku)

1. (dialectal) a kind of food, made from dried sago, fried together with coconut

Further reading

• “baku” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Japanese

Romanization

baku

1. Rōmaji transcription of ばく
2. Rōmaji transcription of バク

Javanese

Romanization

baku

1. Romanization of ꦧꦏꦸ.

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baku/
• Rhymes: -aku
• Hyphenation: ba‧ku

Etymology 1

Uncertain.

• From Javanese ꦧꦏꦸ (baku, “main, essential, basic; rice-field given to a village head instead of salary”).
• From Manado Malay baku- (“mutually, reciprocally, each other, one another”).

Another alternative proposal is that it is borrowed from Minangkabau baku (“frozen”), compare with beku.

Adjective

baku (Jawi spelling باکو)

1. standard

   Synonyms: standard, piawai

   bahasa Melayu baku ― standard Malay

Affixations

• bakukan (“to standardize”)
• kebakuan (“standardness”)
• pembakuan (“standardization”)

Compounds

• bahasa baku (“standard language”)
• sebutan baku (“standard pronunication”)

Noun

baku (Jawi spelling باکو, plural baku-baku, informal 1st possessive bakuku, 2nd possessive bakumu, 3rd possessive bakunya)

1. (informal) The artificial standardized accent of Malay where every letter is prescribed only one sound (e.g. ⟨k⟩ is only pronounced [k] and ⟨a⟩ is only pronounced [a]).

   Synonym: bahasa baku

   Aku tak biasa cakap baku.

   I'm not used to speaking baku.

Etymology 2

Adverb

baku (Jawi spelling باکو)

1. (eastern Indonesia) each other, one another

   Synonym: saling

References

• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “baku”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 71

Further reading

• “baku” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Manado Malay

Prefix

baku

1. alternative form of baku- (“mutually, reciprocally, each other, one another”)

Mapudungun

Noun

baku (Raguileo spelling)

1. paternal grandfather
2. grandchild
3. namesake

See also

• cezki
• cece

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

North Moluccan Malay

Adverb

baku

1. Alternative form of baku-

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.ku/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aku
• Syllabification: ba‧ku

Noun

baku m inan

1. genitive/locative/vocative singular of bak

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

baku (Cyrillic spelling баку)

1. accusative singular of baka

Sundanese

Verb

baku (Sundanese script ᮘᮊᮥ)

1. must be

Tetum

Verb

baku

1. to beat, to hit

West Makian

Etymology

From East Makian baku (“sago, sago palm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.ku/

Noun

baku

1. sago
2. the sago palm

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[1], Pacific linguistics

Yilan Creole

Etymology

From Japanese タバコ (tabako, “tobacco”).

Noun

baku

1. tobacco

References

• Chien Yuehchen (2015) “The lexical system of Yilan Creole”, in New Advances in Formosan Linguistics‎^[2], pages 513-532