kerja bakti

Indonesian

Etymology

Compound of kerja (“work”) +‎ bakti (“service”), calque from Japanese 勤労奉仕(きんろうほうし) (kinrōhōshi, “public work”, literally “labour service”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kərˈd͡ʒa ˈbak̚ti]

Noun

kerja bakti (first-person possessive kerja baktiku, second-person possessive kerja baktimu, third-person possessive kerja baktinya)

1. community service.
2. volunteer work.
3. (colloquial, euphemistic) corvee: unpaid labor required by a feudal lord.

   Synonyms: kerja bakti, kerja paksa, kerja rodi, korve, ordi, rodi, wajib kerja

Further reading

• “kerja bakti” 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.