balai

• IPA^(key): /baˈlaʔi/ [bɐˈl̪a.ʔɪ]
• Hyphenation: ba‧la‧i

balai

1. godmother

A verbal formation from French balai.

• IPA^(key): [baˈlai]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ai
• Hyphenation: ba‧la‧i

balai (present balaas, past balais, future balaos, conditional balaus, volitive balau)

1. to sweep

• balailo

Inherited from Old French balai, from ealier balain (“bundle of broom”, 12th c.), ultimately from Proto-Celtic *banatlo- (“broom plant”). It is uncertain whether the Celtic word passed into French through a Gaulish *balano- or rather through Middle Breton balain, balazn, from Old Breton balan. The latter appears more likely.

• IPA^(key): /ba.lɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: balais, ballet, ballets

balai m (plural balais)

1. broom
2. broomstick flown by witches
3. (colloquial) the last bus or train (at night)
4. tail (of a bird of prey)
5. brush (electrical contact)
6. blade (of windscreen wiper)
7. (slang) year (used in referring to someone’s age)

   Elle a quarante balais ― She’s forty

• → Esperanto: balai

• “balai”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Malay balai, from Proto-Malayic *balay, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay, from Proto-Austronesian *balay. Semantic loan from Minangkabau balai for sense of market.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbalai̯/
• Rhymes: -alai̯, -lai̯, -ai̯

balai (plural balai-balai, first-person possessive balaiku, second-person possessive balaimu, third-person possessive balainya)

1. public hall

   Synonym: paseban

2. building

   Synonym: gedung

3. office or bureau

   Synonyms: biro, kantor

4. house of parliament
5. (dated) house in a palace
6. market

   Synonyms: pasar, pekan

Borrowed from Gorontalo [Term?]

• IPA^(key): /baˈlai/
• Rhymes: -i

balai (plural balai-balai, first-person possessive balaiku, second-person possessive balaimu, third-person possessive balainya)

1. cattle tick

• “balai” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• balói (Barlavento)

From Portuguese balaio.

balai

1. (Sotavento) basket

• Gonçalves, Manuel (2015) Capeverdean Creole-English dictionary, →ISBN
• Veiga, Manuel (2012) Dicionário Caboverdiano-Português, Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional e do Livro

From Proto-Malayic *balay, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balay, from Proto-Austronesian *balay.

• IPA^(key): /balai̯/
• Rhymes: -alai̯, -lai̯, -ai̯

• Audio (Malaysia):

  (file)

balai (Jawi spelling بالاي, plural balai-balai, informal 1st possessive balaiku, 2nd possessive balaimu, 3rd possessive balainya)

1. hall, station, large building for public uses
2. (possibly obsolete) house
3. (dialectal) veranda, a front part of traditional house

• (house): rumah

• balai polis
• balai raya
• balairong seri

• Indonesian: balai
• → Min Nan: 貓厘／猫厘 (bâ-lî, “couch”)

• “balai” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpalaj/

balai

1. third-person singular past indicative of ballat

balai m (plural balais) (Limousin)

1. broom

balai

1. second-person plural imperative of balar

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /baˈlaʔi/ [bɐˈlaː.ʔɪ]
• Rhymes: -aʔi
• Syllabification: ba‧la‧i

balai (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜎᜁ)

1. Obsolete spelling of balae.