Where does “kereta api” come from?

kereta api (Malay) comes from Malay Api, from Proto-Malayic api, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian hapuy, from Proto-Austronesian Sapuy — fire.

kereta api (Malay): train; train, a line of connected railway cars or...

Definitions

  1. train; train, a line of connected railway cars or...

Ancestry of “kereta api”, step by step

kereta api traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Malay Api

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1MalayApifire oxidation reaction
2Proto-Malayicapifire
3Proto-Malayo-Polynesianhapuyfire
4Proto-AustronesianSapuyfire

via Malay kereta

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaykeretacar; cart, carriage; carriage
2Portuguesecarretacart; semi-trailer; big rig; eighteen-wheeler
3Old Portuguesecarreta—

Words derived from “kereta api”

Every word from Proto-Austronesian Sapuy →Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian hapuy →Every word from Proto-Malayic api →