lontar

English

A Singhalese lontar

Etymology

From Balinese lontar, Indonesian lontar, from Old Javanese rontal.

Noun

lontar (plural lontars or lontar)

1. The palmyra or leaves of this tree as used for palm-leaf manuscripts in parts of Indonesia and Malaysia.
   • 1990, Fred B. Eiseman, Jr., Bali: Sekala and Niskala, Tuttle Publishing, page 128:

     The nature of these powers is written in the sacred palms leaf books, the lontars, in which all sacred Balinese writings are preserved.

   • 2000, Raechelle Rubinstein, Beyond the Realm of the Senses, page 26:

     The technology of lontar writing in Bali, on the other hand, has never severely impeded the circulation of texts.

Further reading

• Balinese Wikisource (WikiPustaka) gives a new life to palm-leaf manuscripts, a blog entry from Diff that has several photos and discusses lontar reading, preservation, and digitization efforts

Anagrams

• latron, rontal, tornal

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɔnt̪ar]
• Hyphenation: lon‧tar

Etymology 1

From Malay lontar.

Verb

lontar

1. to throw.

   Synonym: lempar

Derived terms

• berlontaran
• lontaran
• melontar
• melontari
• melontarkan
• pelontar
• pelontaran
• sepelontar
• terlontar

 

• lontar martil

 

Etymology 2

lontar tree

lontar manuscript

From Javanese lontar, rontal (ꦭꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦠꦂ, ꦫꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦠꦭ꧀), from Old Javanese lontar, rontar, rontal, compound of ron (“leaf”) +‎ tal, tala (“palm”), from Sanskrit ताल (tāla, “palm”).

Noun

lontar (first-person possessive lontarku, second-person possessive lontarmu, third-person possessive lontarnya)

1. lontar:
   1. the tree (Borassus flabellifer).

      Synonym: siwalan

   2. the leaf
   3. the palm-leaf manuscript

Alternative forms

• rontal

Derived terms

• melontar

 

• lontar hutan

 

Further reading

• “lontar” 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.