guru besar

Indonesian

Etymology

Compound of guru (“teacher”) +‎ besar (“big”), calque of Dutch hoogleraar (“professor”, literally “big + teacher”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡuru bəˈsar]

Noun

guru bêsar (first-person possessive guru besarku, second-person possessive guru besarmu, third-person possessive guru besarnya)

1. professor (most senior rank for an academic at a university)

   Synonyms: mahaguru, profesor

   • 2018 October 25, Puthut Ami Luhur, “Undip Kukuhkan Tiga Guru Besar Sekaligus”, in Suara Merdeka‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 October 2018:

     Ia melanjutkan, Prof Winarni merupakan guru besar ke- 15 di FPIK dan satu diantara dua guru besar wanita di fakultas tersebut. Sementara Prof Syafrudin merupakan guru besar aktif ke- 23 di Fakultas Teknik. Sedangkan Prof Naili merupakan guru besar aktif Fakultas ISIP yang keempat di mana tiga di antaranya wanita.

     He proceeded (to explain) that Prof. Winami is the 15th professor in FPIK and one of the two female professors in the faculty, while Prof. Syafrudin is the 23rd active professor in the Faculty of Engineering, whereas Prof. Naili is the fourth active professor of the ISIP Faculty where three of them are women.

2. senior teacher, lecturer or researcher working at an institution of higher education

Usage notes

This is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore usage can be seen in Malay guru besar.

Hypernyms

• dosen (“lecturer”)

Further reading

• “guru besar” 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.

Malay

Etymology

guru (“teacher”) +‎ besar (“big”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡu.ru bə.sa(r)/

Noun

guru besar (Jawi spelling ݢورو بسر, plural guru-guru besar, informal 1st possessive guru besarku, 2nd possessive guru besarmu, 3rd possessive guru besarnya)

1. (Malaysia) the principal or headteacher of a school
   • 2018 October 11, Sahama, “Menghargai jasa guru”, in Media Permata‎^[2], archived from the original on 25 October 2018:

     Hadir dalam majlis tersebut ialah guru besar, Hajah Noorliah binti Haji Aspar, penolong-penolong guru besar, guru-guru dan semua pelajar di sekolah tersebut.

     Present at the ceremony was the principal, Hajah Noorliah binti Haji Aspar, assistant principals, teachers and all the students of the school.

Usage notes

This is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Indonesian usage can be seen in Indonesian guru besar.

Synonyms

• (Indonesian) guru kepala, kepala sekolah

Hypernyms

• guru, cikgu (“teacher”)

Coordinate terms

• dekan (“dean of a university faculty”)
• pengetua (“head of a school, college or polytechnic”)