makan (English)
Where does "makan" come from?
The word 'makan' is an unadapted borrowing from Malay that has recently entered English. Its roots trace back to the ancient Proto-Austronesian word '*kaən', which similarly meant 'to eat.' Over millennia, it evolved through Proto-Malayic into the Malay 'makan,' a term deeply entrenched in the language since at least the 7th century.
Full etymology tree
- makan (English), 'To eat.'
- borrowed makan (Malay), 'to eat'
- inherited *makan (Proto-Malayic), 'to eat (consume)'
- inherited *kaən (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian), 'to eat (consume)'
- inherited *kaən (Proto-Austronesian), 'to eat'
- inherited *kaən (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian), 'to eat (consume)'
- inherited *makan (Proto-Malayic), 'to eat (consume)'
- borrowed makan (Malay), 'to eat'
Direct ancestors
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris