Terms ｜ The same idea, in three languages

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Type in the box in any of the three languages. 'density', 'massa jenis' and みつど all find the same row. The buttons narrow it to one field.

◑ one word becomes two ・ ★ one language is the odd one out ・ ⚠ same word, different meaning ・ ✦ a literal translation worth knowing

日本語	English	Bahasa Indonesia
整数せいすう	integer	bilangan bulat	◑
Japanese 整数 maps to 'integer'. Indonesian splits the idea three ways: bilangan asli (1,2,3…), bilangan cacah (0,1,2…), bilangan bulat (…−1,0,1…).
自然数しぜんすう	natural number	bilangan asli
0以上の整数	whole number	bilangan cacah
分数ぶんすう	fraction	pecahan
分子ぶんし	numerator	pembilang	◑
分子 means 'numerator' in maths and 'molecule' in science. One Japanese word, two unrelated English and Indonesian words. This one catches people in both directions.
分母ぶんぼ	denominator	penyebut
帯分数たいぶんすう	mixed number	pecahan campuran
小数しょうすう	decimal	bilangan desimal
通分つうぶん	finding a common denominator	menyamakan penyebut	◑
There is no single English word for 通分. English describes it: 'finding a common denominator'. Indonesian menyamakan penyebut means literally 'make the denominators the same', which is closer to the Japanese.
約分やくぶん	cancelling down / simplifying	menyederhanakan pecahan
倍数ばいすう	multiple	kelipatan
約数やくすう	factor / divisor	faktor	⚠
English 'divisor' means two things: a factor of a number, and the number you are dividing by. Japanese keeps them apart as 約数 and 除数. Say 'factor' when you mean 約数 and the ambiguity disappears.
公倍数こうばいすう	common multiple	kelipatan persekutuan
最小公倍数さいしょうこうばいすう	lowest common multiple (LCM)	KPK — Kelipatan Persekutuan Terkecil	★
Indonesian uses the abbreviations KPK and FPB constantly, spoken as letters. English has LCM and GCD but tends to write them out at school. Japanese never abbreviates: 最小公倍数 is said in full every time.
公約数こうやくすう	common factor	faktor persekutuan
最大公約数さいだいこうやくすう	greatest common divisor (GCD)	FPB — Faktor Persekutuan terBesar	★
Indonesian uses the abbreviations KPK and FPB constantly, spoken as letters. English has LCM and GCD but tends to write them out at school. Japanese never abbreviates: 最小公倍数 is said in full every time.
素数そすう	prime number	bilangan prima
偶数ぐうすう	even number	bilangan genap
奇数きすう	odd number	bilangan ganjil
万まん	ten thousand	sepuluh ribu
億おく	hundred million	seratus juta	◑
There is no single English word for 億. Japanese renames every four digits (万・億・兆) while English and Indonesian rename every three. The 'Big numbers' topic page has the figure that shows both rulers.
兆ちょう	trillion	triliun
割合わりあい	proportion / rate	perbandingan
百分率ひゃくぶんりつ	percentage	persentase
比ひ	ratio	perbandingan / rasio
四捨五入ししゃごにゅう	rounding	pembulatan
筆算ひっさん	column arithmetic	hitung bersusun
商しょう	quotient	hasil bagi
余りあまり	remainder	sisa
和わ	sum	jumlah
差さ	difference	selisih
積せき	product	hasil kali
平方根へいほうこん	square root	akar kuadrat
正の数・負の数せい・ふのすう	positive and negative numbers	bilangan positif dan negatif
三角形さんかくけい	triangle	segitiga
正三角形せいさんかくけい	equilateral triangle	segitiga sama sisi	✦
Indonesian names these shapes with body words: sama kaki is 'same legs' (isosceles), sama sisi is 'same sides' (equilateral). English borrows Greek, so the words tell you nothing. Indonesian is easier to remember.
二等辺三角形にとうへんさんかくけい	isosceles triangle	segitiga sama kaki	✦
Indonesian names these shapes with body words: sama kaki is 'same legs' (isosceles), sama sisi is 'same sides' (equilateral). English borrows Greek, so the words tell you nothing. Indonesian is easier to remember.
直角三角形ちょっかくさんかくけい	right-angled triangle	segitiga siku-siku
四角形しかくけい	quadrilateral	segiempat
正方形せいほうけい	square	persegi
長方形ちょうほうけい	rectangle	persegi panjang
平行四辺形へいこうしへんけい	parallelogram	jajar genjang
ひし形ひしがた	rhombus	belah ketupat	✦
belah ketupat literally means 'split ketupat'. A ketupat is a rice cake woven in a palm-leaf pouch; cut it open and the face is a rhombus. A food giving its name to a shape.
台形だいけい	trapezium (UK) / trapezoid (US)	trapesium	⚠
This is the most dangerous word on the page. In British English a trapezium has one pair of parallel sides; in American English that shape is a trapezoid, and 'trapezium' means the shape with none. The two words swap meanings across the Atlantic. Indonesian trapesium follows the British sense.
多角形たかくけい	polygon	segi banyak
円えん	circle	lingkaran
半径はんけい	radius	jari-jari	✦
jari-jari is the word for 'finger' doubled — the spokes radiating from a hub are jari-jari too. English radius comes from Latin for 'ray'.
直径ちょっけい	diameter	diameter
円周えんしゅう	circumference	keliling lingkaran
円周率えんしゅうりつ	pi (π)	pi (π)	★
The number is the same 3.14…, but the writing is not. English and Japanese use a point for decimals (3.14); Indonesian uses a comma (3,14). Thousands separators are exactly inverted: 1,000,000 against 1.000.000. This causes more mistakes than any other difference on this page.
おうぎ形おうぎがた	sector	juring
弧こ	arc	busur
面積めんせき	area	luas
体積たいせき	volume	volume
周りの長さまわりのながさ	perimeter	keliling
垂直すいちょく	perpendicular	tegak lurus
平行へいこう	parallel	sejajar
対角線たいかくせん	diagonal	diagonal
頂点ちょうてん	vertex	titik sudut
辺へん	side (2-D) / edge (3-D)	sisi (datar) / rusuk (ruang)	◑
Japanese 辺 covers both. Indonesian splits it: sisi for a 2-D side, rusuk for a 3-D edge. English splits it too, as side and edge. Japanese is the one language that uses a single word.
角かく	angle	sudut
直角ちょっかく	right angle	sudut siku-siku
鋭角えいかく	acute angle	sudut lancip
鈍角どんかく	obtuse angle	sudut tumpul
立方体りっぽうたい	cube	kubus
直方体ちょくほうたい	cuboid	balok
角柱かくちゅう	prism	prisma
円柱えんちゅう	cylinder	tabung	⚠
tabung is the cylinder in maths, but in daily Indonesian it is also a tube or a canister — tabung gas is a gas cylinder in the household sense. Context decides which one.
角錐かくすい	pyramid	limas
円錐えんすい	cone	kerucut
球きゅう	sphere	bola
展開図てんかいず	net	jaring-jaring	✦
jaring-jaring means 'net' (the word for net, doubled). English 'net' is the same image. Japanese 展開図 is the odd one out — it means 'unfolded drawing' rather than 'net'.
合同ごうどう	congruence	kekongruenan
相似そうじ	similarity	kesebangunan
対称たいしょう	symmetry	simetri
三平方の定理さんへいほうのていり	Pythagorean theorem	teorema Pythagoras
比例ひれい	direct proportion	perbandingan senilai
反比例はんぴれい	inverse proportion	perbandingan berbalik nilai
速さはやさ	speed	kelajuan	◑
The Japanese pair 速さ / 速度 lines up exactly with Indonesian kelajuan / kecepatan and English speed / velocity. Speed has no direction; velocity does. In everyday Indonesian, though, kecepatan is used for both.
速度そくど	velocity	kecepatan	◑
The Japanese pair 速さ / 速度 lines up exactly with Indonesian kelajuan / kecepatan and English speed / velocity. Speed has no direction; velocity does. In everyday Indonesian, though, kecepatan is used for both.
変化の割合へんかのわりあい	rate of change	laju perubahan
関数かんすう	function	fungsi
グラフ	graph	grafik
棒グラフぼうグラフ	bar chart	diagram batang
折れ線グラフおれせんグラフ	line graph	diagram garis
円グラフえんグラフ	pie chart	diagram lingkaran
柱状グラフちゅうじょうグラフ	histogram	histogram
平均へいきん	mean / average	rata-rata
中央値ちゅうおうち	median	median
最頻値さいひんち	mode	modus
範囲はんい	range	jangkauan
確率かくりつ	probability	peluang
力ちから	force	gaya	⚠
gaya is 'force' in science, but in everyday Indonesian it means style. Same spelling, and a fashion magazine uses it in the other sense.
重さおもさ	weight	berat	◑
All three languages separate weight from mass (重さ/質量, berat/massa). Take it to the moon and the weight changes while the mass does not. Everyday speech mixes them; science does not.
質量しつりょう	mass	massa	◑
All three languages separate weight from mass (重さ/質量, berat/massa). Take it to the moon and the weight changes while the mass does not. Everyday speech mixes them; science does not.
密度みつど	density	massa jenis	★
A dictionary will offer densitas; Indonesian schools do not use it. Both the textbooks and the official Capaian Pembelajaran say massa jenis — literally 'mass of its kind'. The name carries the meaning: how much mass per unit of volume.
圧力あつりょく	pressure	tekanan
大気圧たいきあつ	atmospheric pressure	tekanan udara
浮力ふりょく	buoyancy	gaya apung
仕事しごと	work	usaha	⚠
usaha is 'work' in the physics sense, but in ordinary Indonesian it means effort or a business. In the curriculum document it appears hundreds of times in the everyday sense and only a handful in the physics one.
エネルギー	energy	energi
運動うんどう	motion	gerak
摩擦まさつ	friction	gesekan
重力じゅうりょく	gravity	gravitasi
温度おんど	temperature	suhu
熱ねつ	heat	kalor	⚠
Indonesian separates kalor (heat as transferred energy) from panas (hot, as felt). Japanese 熱 does both jobs, and so does English 'heat' in casual use.
電流でんりゅう	electric current	arus listrik
電圧でんあつ	voltage	tegangan	⚠
tegangan is voltage, but its root meaning is tension — the tension in a rope is also tegangan. Only in an electrical context does it mean voltage.
抵抗ていこう	resistance	hambatan
回路かいろ	circuit	rangkaian
直列ちょくれつ	in series	seri
並列へいれつ	in parallel	paralel
磁石じしゃく	magnet	magnet
磁界じかい	magnetic field	medan magnet
光ひかり	light	cahaya
音おと	sound	bunyi	◑
Indonesian separates bunyi (sound as a physical phenomenon) from suara (a voice). Science uses bunyi. It is close to the Japanese split between 音 and 声.
反射はんしゃ	reflection	pemantulan	★
The physics term is pemantulan, not refleksi. Indonesian keeps refleksi for the mathematical reflection (a transformation) and for reflecting on one's learning. In the curriculum document refleksi appears hundreds of times meaning 'reflect on what you did'.
屈折くっせつ	refraction	pembiasan
振り子ふりこ	pendulum	bandul
てこ	lever	tuas
支点してん	fulcrum	titik tumpu
物質ぶっしつ	substance	zat
状態変化じょうたいへんか	change of state	perubahan wujud
固体こたい	solid	zat padat
液体えきたい	liquid	zat cair
気体きたい	gas	gas
蒸発じょうはつ	evaporation	penguapan
沸騰ふっとう	boiling	mendidih
融解ゆうかい	melting	mencair / peleburan
凝固ぎょうこ	freezing	membeku
結露・凝縮けつろ	condensation	pengembunan
昇華しょうか	sublimation	menyublim
水溶液すいようえき	aqueous solution	larutan
溶質ようしつ	solute	zat terlarut
溶媒ようばい	solvent	pelarut
濃度のうど	concentration	konsentrasi / kadar
飽和ほうわ	saturation	jenuh
酸さん	acid	asam
アルカリ・塩基えんき	alkali / base	basa	⚠
Indonesian basa means base or alkali. It is not bahasa, which means language — one letter apart. asam covers both the chemical acid and the everyday word for sour.
中性ちゅうせい	neutral	netral
元素げんそ	element	unsur
原子げんし	atom	atom
分子ぶんし	molecule	molekul	◑
分子 means 'numerator' in maths and 'molecule' in science. One Japanese word, two unrelated English and Indonesian words. This one catches people in both directions.
化合物かごうぶつ	compound	senyawa
混合物こんごうぶつ	mixture	campuran
化学変化かがくへんか	chemical change	perubahan kimia
燃焼ねんしょう	combustion	pembakaran
酸化さんか	oxidation	oksidasi
還元かんげん	reduction	reduksi
イオン	ion	ion
酸素さんそ	oxygen	oksigen
水素すいそ	hydrogen	hidrogen
窒素ちっそ	nitrogen	nitrogen
炭素たんそ	carbon	karbon
硫黄いおう	sulfur	belerang	★
Indonesian has its own word, belerang, used at school and at home (sulfur is understood too). Japanese 硫黄 is likewise a native word. Only English reaches for the Latin.
ナトリウム	sodium	natrium	★
English is the odd one out here. Japanese and Indonesian both use the Latin natrium and kalium; English alone says sodium and potassium. That is why the symbols are Na and K rather than So and Po. The symbols follow the rest of the world, not English.
カリウム	potassium	kalium	★
English is the odd one out here. Japanese and Indonesian both use the Latin natrium and kalium; English alone says sodium and potassium. That is why the symbols are Na and K rather than So and Po. The symbols follow the rest of the world, not English.
鉄てつ	iron	besi
銅どう	copper	tembaga
アルミニウム	aluminium	aluminium
亜鉛あえん	zinc	seng
鉛なまり	lead	timbal
金きん	gold	emas
銀ぎん	silver	perak
水銀すいぎん	mercury	raksa
生物せいぶつ	living thing / organism	makhluk hidup
細胞さいぼう	cell	sel
植物しょくぶつ	plant	tumbuhan
動物どうぶつ	animal	hewan
光合成こうごうせい	photosynthesis	fotosintesis
呼吸こきゅう	respiration / breathing	pernapasan
消化しょうか	digestion	pencernaan
血液けつえき	blood	darah
心臓しんぞう	heart	jantung	⚠
Indonesian separates jantung (the organ that pumps) from hati (the liver — and also the seat of feelings). So 'heart' in the emotional sense is hati, not jantung. In science it is always jantung.
肺はい	lung	paru-paru
骨ほね	bone	tulang
筋肉きんにく	muscle	otot
種子しゅし	seed	biji
発芽はつが	germination	perkecambahan
根ね	root	akar
茎くき	stem	batang
葉は	leaf	daun
花はな	flower	bunga
果実かじつ	fruit	buah
受粉じゅふん	pollination	penyerbukan
遺伝いでん	heredity	pewarisan sifat
食物連鎖しょくもつれんさ	food chain	rantai makanan
生態系せいたいけい	ecosystem	ekosistem
天気てんき	weather	cuaca	◑
All three keep weather and climate apart (天気/気候, cuaca/iklim). Weather is today; climate is the decades-long average. Indonesia's curriculum returns to perubahan iklim — climate change — from Fase B onwards.
気候きこう	climate	iklim	◑
All three keep weather and climate apart (天気/気候, cuaca/iklim). Weather is today; climate is the decades-long average. Indonesia's curriculum returns to perubahan iklim — climate change — from Fase B onwards.
気温きおん	air temperature	suhu udara
湿度しつど	humidity	kelembapan
雲くも	cloud	awan
雨あめ	rain	hujan
台風たいふう	typhoon	topan / siklon tropis
気圧きあつ	atmospheric pressure	tekanan udara
地層ちそう	stratum / layer	lapisan (batuan)
岩石がんせき	rock	batuan
火山かざん	volcano	gunung berapi	✦
gunung berapi is literally 'mountain of fire' — built exactly like Japanese 火山. English volcano is the outlier, named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
地震じしん	earthquake	gempa bumi
侵食しんしょく	erosion	erosi
堆積たいせき	sedimentation	sedimentasi
太陽たいよう	sun	matahari	✦
matahari is mata (eye) + hari (day) — the eye of the day. Japanese 太陽 also carries its picture in the characters. Both languages keep an image inside the word; English 'sun' has lost its.
月つき	moon / month	bulan	★
Indonesian bulan means both the moon and a month of the year. Japanese 月 does exactly the same. English is alone in splitting moon from month. Two of the three languages agree, and it is not the one you would guess.
地球ちきゅう	Earth	bumi
惑星わくせい	planet	planet
恒星こうせい	star (fixed star)	bintang
太陽系たいようけい	solar system	tata surya
自転じてん	rotation (on its axis)	rotasi
公転こうてん	revolution (around the sun)	revolusi	⚠
revolusi means the orbital revolution in astronomy and a political revolution in history — English 'revolution' carries exactly the same double meaning. Japanese is the one that separates them, as 公転 and 革命.
満ち欠けみちかけ	phases of the moon	fase bulan

Terms

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Differences in writing

Decimal point and thousands separator

The division sign

The multiplication sign

How digits are grouped

How to use it

How to read the table

Where the columns come from