Where does “babirusa” come from?

babirusa (Indonesian) comes from Indonesian babi, from Malay babi, from Proto-Malayic babi, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian babuy, from Proto-Austronesian babuy — pig.

babirusa (Indonesian): Buru babirusa, Babyrousa babyrussa

Definitions

  1. Buru babirusa, Babyrousa babyrussa

Ancestry of “babirusa”, step by step

babirusa traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Indonesian babi

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Indonesianbabipig; a swear word
2Malaybabipig; a contemptible person; a swear word
3Proto-Malayicbabipig
4Proto-Malayo-Polynesianbabuypig
5Proto-Austronesianbabuypig

via Indonesian rusa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Indonesianrusadeer; moose
2Malayrusadeer; moose
3Proto-Malayic*rusaʔ—
4Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*uʀsadeer
Every word from Proto-Austronesian babuy →Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian babuy →Every word from Proto-Malayic babi →