kecil

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• ketjil (1947–1972)
• kecik (dialectal)
• kecit (dialectal)
• kicik (dialectal)
• kicil (nonstandard)
• kicit (dialectal)

Etymology

Inherited from Malay kecil, from Classical Malay kecil, from Proto-Malayic *kəcil. Doublet of kecik and kucil.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /kəˈt͡ʃil/ [kəˈt͡ʃɪl]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -il
• Syllabification: ke‧cil

Adjective

kêcil (comparative lebih kecil, superlative paling kecil or terkecil, equative sekecil)

1. little
   1. small in size

      Synonyms: alit, boncel, bumpet, mungil, rawit, renik, sempit, tak besar

      Antonyms: agung, besar, gadang, gede, raya

      Tas kecil

      Small bag

   2. insignificant, trivial

      Synonyms: culun, daif, tak berharga, tak penting

      Antonyms: berharga, penting

      ini cuma perkara kecil ― this is just a trivial matter

2. small amount

   Synonyms: cekak, sedikit

3. (figurative) young

   Synonyms: belia, cilik, dini, muda

Derived terms

• mengecil - to get smaller
• kekecilan - too small

• berkecil-kecil
• berkecil-kecilan
• berkecilan
• kecil-kecilan
• kecil-mengecil
• kecil-mengecilkan
• kecilan
• kekecilan
• memperkecil
• mengecil
• mengecilkan
• pemerkecil
• pengecil
• pengecilan
• perkecil
• sekecil
• terkecil

• kecil hati

Further reading

• “kecil”, 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

Malay

Alternative forms

• kecik (informal)
• kacik (archaic)
• kache (archaic, in some place names)

Etymology

From Classical Malay kecil, from Proto-Malayic *kəcil. Doublet of kecik and kucil.

Pronunciation

(schwa-variety)

• IPA^(key): /kəˈt͡ʃel/ [kəˈt͡ʃel]

  Rhymes: -ət͡ʃel, -t͡ʃel, -el

  Audio (Malaysia):

  (file)

(Literary Standard)

• IPA^(key): /kəˈt͡ʃil/ [kəˈt͡ʃil]

  Rhymes: -ət͡ʃil, -t͡ʃil, -il

• Hyphenation: ke‧cil

Adjective

kecil (Jawi spelling کچيل, comparative lebih kecil, superlative paling kecil)

1. small, little

   Antonyms: besar, gedang (dialectal), raya (only in a few compound nouns)

   bola kecil ― small ball

Derived terms

• berkecil-kecil
• berkecil-kecilan
• kecil-kecilan
• kecil-kecilkan
• kecil-mengecil
• kecilkan
• kekecilan
• mengecil
• pengecil
• pengecilan
• perkecil
• perkecil-kecil
• sekecil-kecil, sekecil-kecilnya

• kecil hati
• orang kecil

Further reading

• "kecil" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
  (also see "kecil" at PRPM first version)