English
rotan
Rotan comes from Malay rotan ‘cane’, from raut ‘to trim, pare down’, and ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *rauC ‘peel rattan, bamboo’.
- Proto-Austronesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*rauC‘peel rattan, bamboo’reconstructed
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*raut‘peel rattan’reconstructed
- Malaymodernraut‘to trim, pare down’
- Malay, derivedmodernrotan‘cane’
- Englishearliest quotation 1949same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Austronesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*rauC‘peel rattan, bamboo’reconstructed
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*raut‘peel rattan’reconstructed
- Malaymodernraut‘to trim, pare down’
- Malay, derivedmodernrotan‘cane’
- Englishearliest quotation 1949same form
Earliest quotation: 1949, The Straits Times: “Two boys, aged 14 and 11, were each sentenced…”
Linked words
through Malay rotan ‘cane’
Another origin of rotan
- Proto-Slavicc. 400–900 CE*rъtъ‘beak, tooth’reconstructed
- Russianmodernрот‘mouth’
- Russian, derivedmodernрота́нrotán‘Amur sleeper’
- Englishtodayrotan
Today it means
noun A long rattan cane used for corporal punishment.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Austronesian *rauC / rotan