sakau

English

Etymology

From Pohnpeian sakau.

Noun

sakau (uncountable)

1. Kava (in Micronesian contexts).
   • 2022 December 16, Amy Remeikis, “‘I went cross-eyed’: Australia’s former deputy PM taken to hospital after drinking entire bowl of kava”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     The Nationals MP suffered the consequences of drinking an entire shell of sakau – a traditional Micronesian kava with sedative qualities made from the root of the pepper plant – in one hit, thinking it was similar to South Pacific kava. […] While not alcoholic, sakau – like other kavas served throughout the Pacific region – is known for its narcotic sedative effect.

Anagrams

• Akaus, Asuka

Chuukese

Etymology

Borrowed from Pohnpeian sakau.

Adjective

sakau

1. drunk

Noun

sakau

1. kava
2. any alcoholic substance

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• sakaw

Etymology

Blend of sakit (“sick”) +‎ putau (“heroin”, literally “white”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsakau̯/ [ˈsa.kau̯]
• Rhymes: -akau̯
• Syllabification: sa‧kau

Adjective

sakau

1. (colloquial) under withdrawal symptoms

   Aku biasanya pusing kalau sakau.

   I usually get dizzy when withdrawing.

Further reading

• “sakau” 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.

Kari'na

Etymology

From Proto-Cariban *tjakaw (“sand”); compare Pemon sakau.

Pronunciation

• (Venezuela, West Suriname) IPA^(key): [saːkaw]
• (East Suriname) IPA^(key): [saʔkaw]

Noun

sakau (possessed sakauru)

1. sand

References

• Courtz, Hendrik (2008) A Carib grammar and dictionary‎^[2], Toronto: Magoria Books, →ISBN, page 361
• Ahlbrinck, Willem (1931) “sakao”, in Encyclopaedie der Karaïben, Amsterdam: Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, page 422; republished as Willem Ahlbrinck, Doude van Herwijnen, transl., L'Encyclopédie des Caraïbes‎^[3], Paris, 1956, page 411

Lithuanian

Verb

sakau

1. first-person singular present of sakyti

Malay

Etymology

From sakar (“to rob, robbery”) – through rhotacism of final /r/ prominent in the Malaccan dialect – from Minangkabau sakar; sakar itself likely related to cakar (“to claw, to seize”).

Verb

sakau (Jawi spelling ساکاو)

1. (Malaysia, informal) to snatch, to rob, to steal

   Synonym: curi

Pohnpeian

Adjective

sakau

1. drunk

Noun

sakau

1. kava
2. any alcoholic substance