sengsai

Indonesian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Hokkien 先生 (sin-seⁿ, “doctor; physician; teacher”), from 先 (sin, “earlier; first”) + 生 (seⁿ, “to be born”). Compare Japanese 先生 (sensei, “teacher; elder”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛŋ.sai/
• Hyphenation: sèng‧sai

Noun

sengsai (first-person possessive sengsaiku, second-person possessive sengsaimu, third-person possessive sengsainya)

1. (informal) alternative spelling of sinse (“shaman, traditional Chinese medicine doctor”).

Alternative forms

• sinse
• singse

Related terms

• sensei

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səŋ.sai/
• Hyphenation: sêng‧sai

Noun

sengsai (first-person possessive sengsaiku, second-person possessive sengsaimu, third-person possessive sengsainya)

1. Alternative form of sansai.

Further reading

• “sengsai” 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.