kuda nil (Indonesian)

Where does "kuda nil" come from?

The Indonesian term 'kuda nil' is a direct translation of the Dutch 'nijlpaard,' literally meaning 'Nile horse.' This naming convention follows the ancient linguistic tradition of the Greek 'hippopótamos,' which combined ‘híppos’ (horse) and ‘potamós’ (river) to describe the semi-aquatic mammal. While 'nil' refers to the African river, 'kuda' likely traces back to ancient South Asian roots such as the Tamil 'kutirai,' reflecting Indonesia's diverse maritime and colonial linguistic history.

Full etymology tree

• kuda nil (Indonesian), 'hippopotamus'
  • calque nijlpaard (Dutch), 'common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)'
    • calque hippopotamus (Latin), 'a hippopotamus'
      • borrowed ἱπποπόταμος (hippopótamos) (Ancient Greek), 'hippopotamus'
        • compound ἵππος (híppos) (Ancient Greek), 'a horse, (feminine) a mare'
        • compound ποταμός (potamós) (Ancient Greek), 'river, stream'
    • compound Nijl (Dutch), 'Nile (river)'
      • inherited Nīlus (Latin), 'the Nile (river)'
        • borrowed Νεῖλος (Neîlos) (Ancient Greek), 'the river Nile'
    • compound paard (Dutch), 'horse (Equus caballus or Equus ferus)'
      • inherited pert (Middle Dutch), 'horse'
        • inherited *pered (Old Dutch)
          • inherited *parafred (Proto-West Germanic), 'horse'
            • borrowed paraverēdus (Latin), 'a horse for travel off public roads or to out of the way places'
  • compound kuda (Indonesian), 'horse'
    • derived குதிரை (kutirai) (Tamil), 'horse'
      • inherited *kut-ir-ay (Proto-Dravidian)
        • derived *kut-i (Proto-Dravidian)
    • derived घोटक (ghoṭaka) (Sanskrit), 'horse'
  • compound nil (Indonesian)
    • borrowed Nijl (Dutch), 'Nile (river)'
      • inherited Nīlus (Latin), 'the Nile (river)'
        • borrowed Νεῖλος (Neîlos) (Ancient Greek), 'the river Nile'

Ancestors

• kuda (Indonesian)
• nijlpaard (Dutch)

Updated May 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris