cabai

Indonesian

cabai

Alternative forms

• cabe (colloquial)
• tjabai (superseded)
• tjabe (colloquial, superseded)

Etymology

From Malay cabai, from Old Javanese cabe, cabya, cawya, cawi (“pepper”), from Sanskrit चव्य, चवि (cavya, cavi, “Piper chaba”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃabai̯/ [ˈt͡ʃa.bai̯]
  • Rhymes: -abai̯
  • Syllabification: ca‧bai
• (nonstandard) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃabe/ [ˈt͡ʃa.be], /ˈt͡ʃabeʔ/ [ˈt͡ʃa.beʔ]

• Audio:

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Noun

cabai (plural cabai-cabai, first-person possessive cabaiku, second-person possessive cabaimu, third-person possessive cabainya)

1. a plant of the genus Capsicum.
2. chili: the pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking.
3. chili pepper: any fruit of a plant of the botanical genus Capsicum, which has a spicy/burning flavour because it contains capsaicin.

Synonyms

• (all senses): cili, lada, lombok, rica

Further reading

• “cabai” 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.

Malay

Etymology

From Old Javanese cabe, cabya, cawya, cawi (“pepper”), from Sanskrit चव्य, चवि (cavya, cavi, “Piper chaba”).

Noun

cabai (Jawi spelling چاباي, plural cabai-cabai, informal 1st possessive cabaiku, 2nd possessive cabaimu, 3rd possessive cabainya)

1. (dialect) chili: the pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking.
2. (dialect) chili pepper: any fruit of a plant of the botanical genus Capsicum, which has a spicy/burning flavour because it contains capsaicin.

See also

• cili
• lada

Further reading

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