serang

From Persian سرهنگ (sarhang, “commander”).

serang (plural serangs)

1. (India, now historical) A native Indian boatswain; a lascar captain.
   • 2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 14:

     The discovery that the substance in his mouth was of vegetable origin came as no great reassurance to Zachary: once, when the serang spat a stream of blood-red juice over the rail, he noticed the water below coming alive with the thrashing of shark's fins.

   • 2020, Sujit Sivasundaram, Waves Across the South, William Collins, published 2021, page 161:

     The serang or his deputy could serve as a rebel leader or as a point of protest; there were even times when isolated Europeans joined the rebel cause.

• Garnes, rengas, arengs, Ganser, ranges, Agners, Angers, snarge, resang, granes, Sanger, sanger, angers

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /səˈraŋ/ [səˈraŋ]
• Rhymes: -aŋ
• Syllabification: se‧rang

Inherited from Malay serang.

sêrang (active menyerang, passive diserang)

1. (transitive) to attack

Borrowed from Minangkabau [Term?].

sêrang

1. increase

From Persian سرهنگ (sarhang, “commander”).

sêrang (plural serang-serang)

1. (nautical) boatswain, officer of a sailing ship
2. (nautical) boatswain, the petty officer of a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen

   Synonyms: bosun, kepala kelasi, kepala kerja, mandor kapal

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈseraŋ/ [ˈse.raŋ]
• Rhymes: -eraŋ
• Syllabification: se‧rang
• Homophone: Serang

Borrowed from Minangkabau [Term?].

serang (comparative lebih serang, superlative paling serang)

1. (dialect) dazzled

   Synonym: silau

Inherited from Malay serang (“wide-meshed; sparse”).

serang (comparative lebih serang, superlative paling serang)

1. (dialect) wide
2. (dialect) coarse
3. (dialect) sparse
4. (dialect) diffuse, thin

   Antonym: lebat

Borrowed from Madurese [Term?].

serang (plural serang-serang)

1. (dialect) front of the jukung (“a kind of boat”).

• “serang”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (Baku, schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /səˈraŋ/ [səˈraŋ]
• Rhymes: -aŋ
• Hyphenation: se‧rang

serang (Jawi spelling سرڠ) (transitive)

1. to attack; to assault

   Tentera Jepun serang Malaya pada tahun 1941. ― The Japanese army attacked Malaya in 1941.

   Harimau itu tiba-tiba serang mangsanya. ― The tiger suddenly attacked its prey.

2. to raid; to storm

   Synonym: serbu

   Lanun-lanun itu serang kapal dagang. ― The pirates raided the merchant ship.

• > Indonesian: serang (inherited)

• "serang" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017