pegawai

Affixed pe- +‎ gawai (“work”), from Malay pegawai.

• IPA^(key): [pəˈɡawai̯]
• Hyphenation: pê‧ga‧wai

pêgawai (first-person possessive pegawaiku, second-person possessive pegawaimu, third-person possessive pegawainya)

1. employee

   Synonyms: karyawan, pekerja

2. (archaic) government officer, official

   Synonym: pejabat

3. (archaic, figurative) tool, equipment, apparatus

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 pegawai.

• “pegawai” 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.

pe- +‎ gawai

pegawai (Jawi spelling ڤݢاواي, plural pegawai-pegawai, informal 1st possessive pegawaiku, 2nd possessive pegawaimu, 3rd possessive pegawainya)

1. officer; official

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

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